S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) and BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) Head-To-Head Comparison

S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) and BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for S&T Bancorp and BayFirst Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
S&T Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00
BayFirst Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A

S&T Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $32.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.25%. Given S&T Bancorp’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe S&T Bancorp is more favorable than BayFirst Financial.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.7% of BayFirst Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares S&T Bancorp and BayFirst Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
S&T Bancorp	27.03%	11.70%	1.55%
BayFirst Financial	4.82%	7.22%	0.54%

Volatility and Risk

S&T Bancorp has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares S&T Bancorp and BayFirst Financial’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
S&T Bancorp	$535.52 million	2.29	$144.78 million	$3.74	8.58
BayFirst Financial	$118.27 million	0.45	$5.70 million	$1.15	11.26

S&T Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than BayFirst Financial. S&T Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BayFirst Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

S&T Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. BayFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. S&T Bancorp pays out 35.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BayFirst Financial pays out 27.8% 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. S&T Bancorp has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. S&T Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

S&T Bancorp beats BayFirst Financial on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for S&T Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company operates through six segments: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Construction, Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate, and Other Consumer. The company accepts time and demand deposits; and offers commercial and consumer loans, cash management services, and brokerage and trust services, as well as acts as guardian and custodian of employee benefits. It also manages private investment accounts for individuals and institutions. In addition, the company distributes life insurance and long-term disability income insurance products, as well as offers title insurance agency services to commercial customers; and acts as a reinsurer of credit life, accident, and health insurance policies. S&T Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes. It also provides commercial real estate mortgages; construction and development, working capital, and business loans; auto, boat, and recreational vehicle loans; and personal lines of credit, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mobile and online banking, treasury management, cash management, merchant processing, remote deposit capture, night depositor, online bill payment, courier, retail investment, and other services. It operates full-service office locations in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Sarasota, Tampa, and Belleair Bluffs, Florida. The company was formerly known as First Home Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to BayFirst Financial Corp. in May 2021. BayFirst Financial Corp. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, Florida.