Stock Yards Bancorp (SYBT) Competitors

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) and First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) 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, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends and risk.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, SYBT or FBNC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stock Yards Bancorp	$438.92M	3.14	$107.75M	$3.56	13.16
First Bancorp	$390.45M	3.33	$104.13M	$2.77	11.39

Is SYBT or FBNC more profitable?

Stock Yards Bancorp has a net margin of 22.86% compared to First Bancorp's net margin of 20.58%. Stock Yards Bancorp's return on equity of 12.51% beat First Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stock Yards Bancorp	22.86%	12.51%	1.31%
First Bancorp	20.58%	8.62%	0.95%

Which has more volatility & risk, SYBT or FBNC?

Stock Yards Bancorp has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SYBT or FBNC?

First Bancorp received 191 more outperform votes than Stock Yards Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.13% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 54.06% of users gave Stock Yards Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Stock Yards Bancorp	Outperform Votes 213 54.06%	Underperform Votes 181 45.94%
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 404 63.13%	Underperform Votes 236 36.88%

Is SYBT or FBNC a better dividend stock?

Stock Yards Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Stock Yards Bancorp pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bancorp pays out 31.8% 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. First Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor SYBT or FBNC?

In the previous week, First Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than Stock Yards Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for First Bancorp and 2 mentions for Stock Yards Bancorp. Stock Yards Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.85 beat First Bancorp's score of 1.41 indicating that Stock Yards Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Stock Yards Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
First Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer SYBT or FBNC?

Stock Yards Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.72%. First Bancorp has a consensus price target of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.60%. Given Stock Yards Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Stock Yards Bancorp is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stock Yards Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of SYBT or FBNC?

56.5% of Stock Yards Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.4% of First Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Stock Yards Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of First Bancorp shares are held 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.

Summary

Stock Yards Bancorp and First Bancorp tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.