Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST – Get Free Report) and Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation and earnings.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Business First Bancshares and Credit Agricole”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Business First Bancshares | $516.55 million | 2.01 | $87.86 million | $2.82 | 11.29 |
| Credit Agricole | $31.76 billion | 2.08 | $8.00 billion | $1.12 | 9.74 |
Dividends
Business First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Credit Agricole pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Business First Bancshares pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Credit Agricole pays out 37.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Business First Bancshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Business First Bancshares and Credit Agricole, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Business First Bancshares | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Credit Agricole | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Business First Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $34.75, indicating a potential upside of 9.14%. Given Business First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Business First Bancshares is more favorable than Credit Agricole.
Profitability
This table compares Business First Bancshares and Credit Agricole’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Business First Bancshares | 17.07% | 11.03% | 1.13% |
| Credit Agricole | 23.39% | 31.64% | 1.14% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
47.4% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of Credit Agricole shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility & Risk
Business First Bancshares has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Credit Agricole has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Business First Bancshares beats Credit Agricole on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Business First Bancshares
Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans, such as working capital, term, equipment financing, asset acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, and other loan products, as well as commercial lines of credit, accounts receivable factoring, agricultural financing, and letters of credit; construction and development loans; commercial real estate loans; residential real estate loans comprising first and second lien 1-4 family mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit; and consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment, and term loans. In addition, it offers wealth management products, including mutual funds, annuities, individual retirement accounts, and other financial products, as well as other fiduciary and private banking products and services. Further, the company provides a range of other financial services comprising debit and credit cards, treasury and cash management, merchant, automated clearing house, lock-box, receivables factoring, correspondent banking, and other treasury services, as well as employee and payroll benefits solutions; and drive-through banking facilities, automated teller machines, night depository, personalized checks, electronic funds transfer, domestic and foreign wire transfer, traveler's checks, vault, loan and deposit sweep accounts, online and mobile banking, e-statements, and bank-by-mail services. Business First Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
About Credit Agricole
Crédit Agricole S.A. provides retail, corporate, insurance, and investment banking products and services in France and internationally. It operates through French Retail Banking Regional Banks; French Retail Banking – LCL; International Retail Banking; Asset Gathering; Large Customers; and Specialised Financial Services segments. The company offers banking products and services, finance, savings, wealth management, payment, and cash flow management services; consumer finance products; savings/retirement, death and disability/creditor/group, and property and casualty insurance products; investment solutions; and banking and specialized financial services. It also provides investment banking, structured finance, international trade finance, commercial banking, capital market, and syndication services; financing solutions for property and equipment investment and renewal requirements; trade receivable financing and management solutions for corporates; asset servicing solutions for investment products, as well as various asset classes, such as execution, clearing, forex, security lending and borrowing, custody, depositary bank, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing solutions, and fund distribution support and issuer services; and online banking services. The company serves retail customers, corporates, banks and financial institutions, government agencies, and local authorities. Crédit Agricole S.A. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Montrouge, France. Crédit Agricole S.A. operates as a subsidiary of SAS Rue La Boetie.
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