Reviewing Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and Chain Bridge Bancorp (NYSE:CBNA)

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and Chain Bridge Bancorp (NYSE:CBNA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Nicolet Bankshares and Chain Bridge Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nicolet Bankshares	0	1	3	1	3.00
Chain Bridge Bancorp	2	2	0	0	1.50

Nicolet Bankshares presently has a consensus target price of $155.33, indicating a potential upside of 25.54%. Chain Bridge Bancorp has a consensus target price of $33.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.12%. Given Nicolet Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Nicolet Bankshares is more favorable than Chain Bridge Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and Chain Bridge Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nicolet Bankshares	$520.63 million	3.52	$124.06 million	$9.34	13.25
Chain Bridge Bancorp	$56.65 million	3.86	$20.95 million	$2.86	11.67

Nicolet Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Chain Bridge Bancorp. Chain Bridge 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.

Volatility and Risk

Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chain Bridge Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and Chain Bridge Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nicolet Bankshares	26.39%	12.08%	1.61%
Chain Bridge Bancorp	32.83%	12.10%	1.22%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.4% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 25.9% of Chain Bridge Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats Chain Bridge Bancorp on 11 of the 15 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 Chain Bridge Bancorp

Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc. operates as a Delaware-chartered bank holding company for Chain Bridge Bank, National Association that provides commercial and personal banking, and trust services in the United States. Its deposit products include non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts. The company’s loan portfolio comprises of residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, and consumer loans. It also provides treasury management, payments, trusts and estate administration, wealth management, and asset custody services. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.