Critical Contrast: Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) and Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY)

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) and Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Bank of Marin Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oak Valley Bancorp	24.80%	11.99%	1.20%
Bank of Marin Bancorp	-18.58%	7.20%	0.78%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

30.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of Bank of Marin Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 13.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Bank of Marin Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Oak Valley Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of Marin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Oak Valley Bancorp pays out 26.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of Marin Bancorp pays out -49.5% 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. Oak Valley Bancorp has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Bank of Marin Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Oak Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of Marin Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Oak Valley Bancorp and Bank of Marin Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oak Valley Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Bank of Marin Bancorp	2	2	2	0	2.00

Bank of Marin Bancorp has a consensus target price of $28.40, indicating a potential upside of 10.72%. Given Bank of Marin Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of Marin Bancorp is more favorable than Oak Valley Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Bank of Marin Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oak Valley Bancorp	$95.04 million	2.98	$23.91 million	$2.88	11.68
Bank of Marin Bancorp	$163.98 million	2.53	-$35.67 million	($2.02)	-12.70

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

Summary

Oak Valley Bancorp beats Bank of Marin Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oak Valley Bancorp

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including automobile loans, home mortgages, credit lines, and other personal loans. In addition, the company provides online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, merchant, night depository, extended hours, wire transfer of funds, note collection services, and automated teller machines. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Oakdale, California.

About Bank of Marin Bancorp

Bank of Marin Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Marin that provides a range of financial services primarily to small to medium-sized businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and commercial real estate investors in the United States. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts; and individual retirement, health savings, and demand deposit marketplace accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit, certificate of deposit account registry, and insured cash sweep services. It also provides commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans, as well as construction financing and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers merchant and payroll services; commercial equipment leasing program; payment solutions; treasury management services; credit cards; and mobile deposit, remote deposit capture, automated clearing house, wire transfer, and image lockbox services. Further, it provides wealth management and trust services comprising customized investment portfolio management, financial planning, trust administration, estate settlement, and custody services, as well as 401(k) plan services; and automated teller machines, and telephone and digital banking services. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Novato, California.