Reviewing Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) & BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN)

BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares BayFirst Financial and Regions Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BayFirst Financial	-80.74%	-101.15%	-4.83%
Regions Financial	23.33%	12.88%	1.42%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BayFirst Financial and Regions Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BayFirst Financial	$104.19 million	2.01	-$22.94 million	($14.88)	-0.52
Regions Financial	$9.61 billion	2.41	$2.16 billion	$2.45	11.07

Regions Financial has higher revenue and earnings than BayFirst Financial. BayFirst Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Regions Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.4% of Regions Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 56.6% of BayFirst Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Regions Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for BayFirst Financial and Regions Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BayFirst Financial	1	0	0	0	1.00
Regions Financial	3	11	6	0	2.15

Regions Financial has a consensus target price of $31.97, suggesting a potential upside of 17.86%. Given Regions Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Regions Financial is more favorable than BayFirst Financial.

Risk & Volatility

BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Regions Financial has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Regions Financial beats BayFirst Financial on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes. It also provides commercial real estate mortgages; construction and development, working capital, and business loans; auto, boat, and recreational vehicle loans; and residential mortgages, personal lines of credit, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mobile and online banking, treasury management, wire transfers, cash management, merchant processing, remote deposit capture, night depositor, online bill payment, courier, retail investment, ACH originations, and other services. It operates full-service banking centers in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Sarasota, Tampa, Belleair Bluffs, and Bradenton, Florida. The company was formerly known as First Home Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to BayFirst Financial Corp. in May 2021. BayFirst Financial Corp. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services. It serves corporate, middle market, and commercial real estate developers and investors. The Consumer Bank segment provides consumer banking products and services related to residential first mortgages, home equity lines and loans, consumer credit cards, and other consumer loans, as well as deposits. The Wealth Management segment offers credit related products, and retirement and savings solutions; and trust and investment management, asset management, and estate planning services to individuals, businesses, governmental institutions, and non-profit entities. It also provides investment and insurance products; low-income housing tax credit corporate fund syndication services; and other specialty financing services. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.