Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) and Frederick County Bancorp (MD) (OTCMKTS:FCBI) Critical Survey

Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) and Frederick County Bancorp (MD) (OTCMKTS:FCBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Equitable Financial and Frederick County Bancorp (MD)’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equitable Financial	$26.12 million	1.27	$3.59 million	N/A	N/A
Frederick County Bancorp (MD)	$18.62 million	3.11	$2.96 million	N/A	N/A

Equitable Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Frederick County Bancorp (MD).

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.2% of Equitable Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 11.3% of Equitable Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 32.2% of Frederick County Bancorp (MD) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Equitable Financial and Frederick County Bancorp (MD)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equitable Financial	N/A	6.88%	0.64%
Frederick County Bancorp (MD)	11.41%	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Equitable Financial and Frederick County Bancorp (MD), as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equitable Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A
Frederick County Bancorp (MD)	0	0	0	0	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Equitable Financial has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Frederick County Bancorp (MD) has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equitable Financial beats Frederick County Bancorp (MD) on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equitable Financial

Equitable Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Equitable Bank that provides various banking products and services in Nebraska, the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts; recorder checks; online and mobile banking; remote deposit capture; voice banking; credit card processing; debit and gift cards; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides home, home equity, auto, personal, real estate and construction, operating lines of credit, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as equipment financing. In addition, the company offers foreign currency and exchanges; financial planning; wealth management; investment advisory; and retirement services. It operates through branches located in Grand Island, North Platte, and Omaha. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska.

About Frederick County Bancorp (MD)

Frederick County Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Frederick County Bank that provides various banking services to individuals and commercial enterprises in the Frederick County, Maryland. It offers deposit products, including personal checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and health savings accounts; and business checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposits. The company provides home equity, home equity fixed rate, mortgage, installment, vehicle, and unsecured loans, as well as home equity line of credit and lines of credit; and commercial loans, such as term loans, lines of credit, letters of credit, and real estate finance. It also offers cash management services comprising automated clearing house, wire origination, remote deposit capture, and zero balance account services. In addition, the company provides mobile deposit capture, overdraft protection, debit and credit card, automated teller machine, and night depository services; and business courier and merchant processing services, as well as online banking and bill pay services. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.