Financial Contrast: BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) vs. Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB)

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

Risk & Volatility

BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mid Penn Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BayFirst Financial and Mid Penn Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BayFirst Financial	$80.46 million	0.97	$12.60 million	$2.52	7.52
Mid Penn Bancorp	$176.80 million	2.87	$49.44 million	$2.90	9.04

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for BayFirst Financial and Mid Penn Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BayFirst Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Mid Penn Bancorp	0	0	2	0	3.00

Mid Penn Bancorp has a consensus price target of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.25%. Given Mid Penn Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Mid Penn Bancorp is more favorable than BayFirst Financial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.1% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 19.2% of BayFirst Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.7% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are held by company 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 BayFirst Financial and Mid Penn Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BayFirst Financial	8.80%	14.81%	1.05%
Mid Penn Bancorp	15.99%	8.43%	0.87%

Dividends

BayFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Mid Penn Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. BayFirst Financial pays out 12.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mid Penn Bancorp pays out 27.6% 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.

Summary

Mid Penn Bancorp beats BayFirst Financial on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 residential mortgages, personal lines of credit, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mobile and online banking, treasury management, wire transfers, cash management, merchant processing, remote deposit capture, night depositor, online bill payment, courier, retail investment, ACH originations, and other services. It operates full-service banking centers in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Sarasota, Tampa, Belleair Bluffs, and Bradenton, 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 St. Petersburg, Florida.

About Mid Penn Bancorp

Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Mid Penn Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. The company offers various time and demand deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, clubs, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides a range of loan products comprising mortgage and home equity loans, secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, lines of credit, construction financing, farm loans, community development loans, loans to non-profit entities, and local government loans. In addition, the company offers trust, retail investment, wealth management, and insurance services; and provides online banking, telephone banking, cash management, and automated teller services, as well as safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.