First Bancorp (FBNC) Competitors

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) and Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, community ranking, dividends and institutional ownership.

Is FBNC or SYBT more profitable?

Stock Yards Bancorp has a net margin of 22.86% compared to First Bancorp's net margin of 20.58%. Stock Yards Bancorp's return on equity of 12.70% beat First Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancorp	20.58%	8.62%	0.95%
Stock Yards Bancorp	22.86%	12.70%	1.32%

Which has more risk & volatility, FBNC or SYBT?

First Bancorp has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Stock Yards Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, FBNC or SYBT?

Stock Yards Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Bancorp. First Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stock Yards Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancorp	$546.25M	2.37	$104.13M	$2.77	11.38
Stock Yards Bancorp	$438.92M	3.09	$107.75M	$3.56	12.96

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FBNC or SYBT?

First Bancorp received 191 more outperform votes than Stock Yards Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.13% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 54.06% of users gave Stock Yards Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 404 63.13%	Underperform Votes 236 36.88%
Stock Yards Bancorp	Outperform Votes 213 54.06%	Underperform Votes 181 45.94%

Is FBNC or SYBT a better dividend stock?

First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Stock Yards Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Bancorp pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stock Yards Bancorp pays out 33.7% 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. First Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer FBNC or SYBT?

First Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $33.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.70%. Stock Yards Bancorp has a consensus price target of $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.34%. Given Stock Yards Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Stock Yards Bancorp is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Stock Yards Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Does the media prefer FBNC or SYBT?

In the previous week, Stock Yards Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than First Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Stock Yards Bancorp and 9 mentions for First Bancorp. First Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.18 beat Stock Yards Bancorp's score of 0.12 indicating that First Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Stock Yards Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of FBNC or SYBT?

68.4% of First Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of Stock Yards Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Stock Yards Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Bancorp and Stock Yards Bancorp tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.