West Bancorporation (WTBA) Competitors

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) and First Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Do analysts recommend WTBA or FCBC?

West Bancorporation presently has a consensus price target of $20.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.54%. Given West Bancorporation's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe West Bancorporation is more favorable than First Community Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First Community Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is WTBA or FCBC a better dividend stock?

West Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. First Community Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. West Bancorporation pays out 58.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Community Bancshares pays out 45.4% 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 raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Is WTBA or FCBC more profitable?

First Community Bancshares has a net margin of 27.07% compared to West Bancorporation's net margin of 14.40%. West Bancorporation's return on equity of 12.26% beat First Community Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Bancorporation	14.40%	12.26%	0.72%
First Community Bancshares	27.07%	9.68%	1.54%

Does the media refer more to WTBA or FCBC?

In the previous week, West Bancorporation had 1 more articles in the media than First Community Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for West Bancorporation and 1 mentions for First Community Bancshares. First Community Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.87 beat West Bancorporation's score of 1.31 indicating that First Community Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
West Bancorporation	Positive
First Community Bancshares	Very Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, WTBA or FCBC?

First Community Bancshares has lower revenue, but higher earnings than West Bancorporation. West Bancorporation 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
West Bancorporation	$198.50M	1.60	$24.05M	$1.70	11.01
First Community Bancshares	$185.53M	3.58	$51.60M	$2.73	13.27

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in WTBA or FCBC?

44.3% of West Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.0% of First Community Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of West Bancorporation shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of First Community Bancshares shares are owned by company 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, WTBA or FCBC?

West Bancorporation has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Community Bancshares has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

West Bancorporation and First Community Bancshares tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.