Ames National (ATLO) Competitors

First Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) and Ames National (NASDAQ:ATLO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and media sentiment.

Is FCBC or ATLO more profitable?

First Community Bancshares has a net margin of 27.07% compared to Ames National's net margin of 14.44%. First Community Bancshares' return on equity of 9.68% beat Ames National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Community Bancshares	27.07%	9.68%	1.54%
Ames National	14.44%	7.46%	0.64%

Is FCBC or ATLO a better dividend stock?

First Community Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ames National pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Community Bancshares pays out 45.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ames National pays out 51.9% 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 Community Bancshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, FCBC or ATLO?

First Community Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Ames National. Ames National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Community Bancshares, 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
First Community Bancshares	$185.53M	3.75	$51.60M	$2.73	13.91
Ames National	$92.44M	1.92	$10.22M	$1.54	12.97

Does the media favor FCBC or ATLO?

In the previous week, Ames National had 2 more articles in the media than First Community Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Ames National and 2 mentions for First Community Bancshares. First Community Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Ames National's score of 1.53 indicating that First Community Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Community Bancshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Ames National	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of FCBC or ATLO?

35.0% of First Community Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.5% of Ames National shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Community Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Ames National shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, FCBC or ATLO?

First Community Bancshares has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ames National has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Community Bancshares beats Ames National on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.