National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) & Bay National (OTCMKTS:BAYN) Head to Head Survey

Bay National (OTCMKTS:BAYN) and National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

29.7% of National Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 17.8% of Bay National shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of National Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Bay National and National Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bay National	0	0	0	0	N/A
National Bankshares	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Bay National and National Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bay National	N/A	N/A	N/A
National Bankshares	19.00%	10.17%	0.81%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bay National and National Bankshares’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bay National	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
National Bankshares	$68.19 million	2.66	$15.69 million	$2.26	13.61

National Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Bay National.

Volatility & Risk

Bay National has a beta of 1.56, indicating that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Bankshares has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

National Bankshares beats Bay National on 5 of the 7 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bay National

Bay National Corp. operates as a bank holding company. It offers loans, deposits, investments and other banking and financial services through its subsidiary, Bay National Bank. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Lutherville, MD.

About National Bankshares

National Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for the National Bank of Blacksburg that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, non-profits, and local governments. The company accepts interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include commercial and agricultural, commercial real estate, residential real estate, home equity, and various consumer loan products, as well as loans for the construction of commercial and residential properties. The company also provides business and consumer debit and credit cards; letters of credit, night depository services, safe deposit boxes, utility payment services, and automatic funds transfer; wealth management, trust, and estate services; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and telephone, mobile, and Internet banking services. The company was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia.