Analyzing Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) and SouthCrest Financial Group (OTCMKTS:SCSG)

SouthCrest Financial Group (OTCMKTS:SCSG) and Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.9% of Banc of California shares are held by institutional investors. 7.4% of Banc of California shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for SouthCrest Financial Group and Banc of California, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SouthCrest Financial Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Banc of California	0	4	6	0	2.60

Banc of California has a consensus target price of $17.30, suggesting a potential upside of 0.41%. Given Banc of California’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Banc of California is more favorable than SouthCrest Financial Group.

Profitability

This table compares SouthCrest Financial Group and Banc of California’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SouthCrest Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Banc of California	-20.75%	2.93%	0.24%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SouthCrest Financial Group and Banc of California”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SouthCrest Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Banc of California	$1.97 billion	1.39	-$1.90 billion	($4.27)	-4.04

SouthCrest Financial Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Banc of California.

Summary

Banc of California beats SouthCrest Financial Group on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SouthCrest Financial Group

SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for SouthCrest Bank, N.A. that provides various banking products and services. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company also provides personal loans for cars, boats, recreational vehicles, and other purchases; home equity lines of credit; loans on investment properties; owner occupied real estate, acquisition construction and development, professional practice acquisition, equipment and inventory, construction to permanent, and investment real estate loans; and working capital and lines of credit. In addition, it offers credit cards; remote deposit capture, positive pay, ACH, online wires, merchant, and reorder checks services; and online banking, online bill pay, mobile banking and deposit, and telephone banking services. The company serves retail, private, entrepreneurial, high-net-worth, and commercial customers. It operates through 9 branches in Georgia. SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Banc of California

Banc of California, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Banc of California that provides various banking products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, demand, and time deposits; certificates of deposit; retirement accounts; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides real estate loans to professional developers and real estate investors for the acquisition, construction, refinancing, renovation, and on-going operation of commercial real estate properties; commercial real estate mortgage, residential real estate mortgage, and real estate construction and land loans; commercial loans and leases, such as equipment finance, other asset-based, venture capital, secured business, warehouse, and other lending services; small business administration loans; and consumer loans comprising personal, auto, and other loans, as well as home equity and revolving lines of credit. In addition, the company offers international banking, multi-state deposit, and asset and investment management services, as well as cash and treasury management services; and online, mobile, remote deposit, and telephone banking services. It serves small and middle-market businesses, venture capital firms, non-profit organizations, business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals, and high-net worth individuals. Banc of California, Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.