Comparing Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) and TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK)

TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) and Hope Bancorp (NASDAQ:HOPE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Risk and Volatility

TriCo Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hope Bancorp has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for TriCo Bancshares and Hope Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TriCo Bancshares	0	2	4	1	2.86
Hope Bancorp	0	3	2	0	2.40

TriCo Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $54.60, suggesting a potential upside of 7.48%. Hope Bancorp has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.81%. Given Hope Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hope Bancorp is more favorable than TriCo Bancshares.

Dividends

TriCo Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hope Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. TriCo Bancshares pays out 36.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hope Bancorp pays out 107.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. TriCo Bancshares has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

59.1% of TriCo Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Hope Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of TriCo Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Hope Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TriCo Bancshares and Hope Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TriCo Bancshares	$538.91 million	3.01	$121.56 million	$3.95	12.86
Hope Bancorp	$967.63 million	1.67	$61.59 million	$0.52	24.29

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TriCo Bancshares	23.71%	9.92%	1.31%
Hope Bancorp	6.56%	5.32%	0.65%

Summary

TriCo Bancshares beats Hope Bancorp on 12 of the 18 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 Hope Bancorp

Hope Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hope that provides retail and commercial banking services for businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts personal and business checking, money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans comprising commercial and industrial loans to businesses for various purposes, such as working capital, purchasing inventory, debt refinancing, business acquisitions, international trade finance, other business-related financing, and loans syndication services; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; small business administration loans; and consumer loans, such as single-family mortgage, home equity, automobile, credit card, and personal loans. In addition, it provides internet banking and bill-pay, remote deposit capture, lock box, and ACH origination services; treasury management services; foreign currency exchange transactions; interest rate contracts and wealth management services; automated teller machine services; and engages in investment activities. Hope Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.