Reviewing Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL)

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.4% of California BanCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of California BanCorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California BanCorp has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and California BanCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nicolet Bankshares	21.77%	11.36%	1.62%
California BanCorp	26.01%	10.44%	1.49%

Dividends

Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. California BanCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 16.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. California BanCorp pays out 26.1% 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. Nicolet Bankshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Nicolet Bankshares and California BanCorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nicolet Bankshares	0	2	4	1	2.86
California BanCorp	0	1	5	0	2.83

Nicolet Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $183.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.62%. California BanCorp has a consensus target price of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.58%. Given California BanCorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than Nicolet Bankshares.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and California BanCorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nicolet Bankshares	$556.52 million	6.17	$150.69 million	$8.81	18.61
California BanCorp	$237.07 million	2.93	$63.06 million	$1.84	11.72

Nicolet Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than California BanCorp. California BanCorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nicolet Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats California BanCorp on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

About California BanCorp

Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides home equity lines of credit, business loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate and construction loans, small business administration loans, letters of credit, and personal and business credit cards. In addition, the company provides cash vault, sweep accounts, and remote deposit capture services; online and mobile banking services; courier service; lockbox services; and merchant services. It operates branches in San Diego, Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, as well as the Inland Empire. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.