Head to Head Survey: TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) and Suncrest Bank (OTCMKTS:SBKK)

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) and Suncrest Bank (OTCMKTS:SBKK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares TriCo Bancshares and Suncrest Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TriCo Bancshares	21.25%	9.75%	1.11%
Suncrest Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for TriCo Bancshares and Suncrest Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TriCo Bancshares	0	1	3	0	2.75
Suncrest Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A

TriCo Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.72%. Given TriCo Bancshares’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe TriCo Bancshares is more favorable than Suncrest Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.1% of TriCo Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.9% of Suncrest Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of TriCo Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

TriCo Bancshares has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Suncrest Bank has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TriCo Bancshares and Suncrest Bank’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TriCo Bancshares	$499.75 million	2.59	$117.39 million	$3.28	11.89
Suncrest Bank	$46.73 million	4.92	$16.96 million	$1.37	13.56

TriCo Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Suncrest Bank. TriCo Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Suncrest Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

TriCo Bancshares beats Suncrest Bank on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TriCo Bancshares

TriCo Bancshares operates as a bank holding company for Tri Counties Bank that provides commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides small business loans; real estate mortgage loans, such as residential and commercial loans; consumer loans; mortgage, auto, other vehicle, and personal loans; commercial loans, including agricultural loans; and real estate construction loans. In addition, the company offers treasury management services; credit and debit cards; and other customary banking services, including safe deposit boxes; and independent financial and broker-dealer services. Further, it provides checking, saving, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts; equipment financing; certificate of deposit account registry service; certificated of deposit; and IntraFi cash service. TriCo Bancshares was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Chico, California.

About Suncrest Bank

Suncrest Bank engages in the provision of personal and commercial banking services. It provides checking, savings and certificates of deposits, lending, cash management, online and mobile banking, e-statements, remote deposit capture, financial calculators, and customer service center. It also offers agricultural real estate loans, production finance, equipment financing and leasing, development loans, long-term fixed rate, SBA and USDA loans, valley small business guaranteed loans, USDA B&I loans, farmer mac loans, and cal-cap loans. The company was founded on May 19, 2008 and is headquartered in Visalia, CA.