American Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBK) versus National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) Critical Survey

American Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBK) and National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of National Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of National Bank shares are owned by company 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for American Bank and National Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A
National Bank	0	1	1	0	2.50

National Bank has a consensus price target of $37.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.36%. Given National Bank’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe National Bank is more favorable than American Bank.

Dividends

American Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. National Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. National Bank pays out 29.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Bank has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

American Bank has a beta of 0.05, suggesting that its share price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Bank has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Bank and National Bank’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
National Bank	$559.33 million	2.30	$142.05 million	$3.72	9.13

National Bank has higher revenue and earnings than American Bank.

Profitability

This table compares American Bank and National Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
National Bank	25.40%	12.20%	1.43%

Summary

National Bank beats American Bank on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Bank

American Bank Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for American Bank that provides various banking products and services to consumer, business, institutional, and governmental customers. It accepts a range of interest-bearing checking and money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers commercial, industrial, and other loans; commercial mortgage loans; commercial construction loans; residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including personal term loans, personal credit lines, automobile loans, home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit and loans. In addition, it provides online or mobile banking, automated teller machine, safe deposit box rental, and wire transfer services, as well as sells checks and checkbooks, and purchases investment securities. The company operates an office located in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and a loan production office in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

About National Bank

National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans and leases, such as working capital loans, equipment loans, lender finance loans, food and agriculture loans, government and non-profit loans, owner occupied commercial real estate loans, and other commercial loans and leases; non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans consisting of loans on commercial properties, such as office buildings, warehouse/distribution buildings, multi-family, hospitality, and retail buildings; small business administration loans to support small businesses and entrepreneurs; term loans, line of credits, and real estate secured loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers treasury management solutions comprising online and mobile banking, commercial credit card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, electronic bill payment, lock box, remote deposit capture, merchant processing, cash vault, controlled disbursements, and fraud prevention services, as well as other auxiliary services, including account reconciliation, collections, repurchase accounts, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. The company operates through a network of banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City region, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Texas. It also operates ATMs. The company was formerly known as NBH Holdings Corp. and changed its name to National Bank Holdings Corporation in March 2012. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.