Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) & Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) Head to Head Comparison

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.4% of Camden National shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Camden National 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.

Dividends

Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Camden National pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 13.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Camden National pays out 43.8% 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. Nicolet Bankshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Nicolet Bankshares and Camden National, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nicolet Bankshares	0	0	5	1	3.17
Camden National	0	4	1	0	2.20

Nicolet Bankshares presently has a consensus target price of $179.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.33%. Camden National has a consensus target price of $49.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.92%. Given Nicolet Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Nicolet Bankshares is more favorable than Camden National.

Risk and Volatility

Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Camden National has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and Camden National”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nicolet Bankshares	$392.04 million	5.68	$150.69 million	$9.80	15.35
Camden National	$373.18 million	2.08	$65.16 million	$3.84	11.93

Nicolet Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Camden National. Camden National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nicolet Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and Camden National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nicolet Bankshares	26.98%	12.49%	1.68%
Camden National	17.46%	11.39%	1.07%

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats Camden National on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

About Camden National

Camden National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Camden National Bank that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services for consumer, institutional, municipal, non-profit, and commercial customers in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The company accepts checking, savings, time, and brokered deposits, as well as deposits with the certificate of deposit account registry system. Its loan products include non-owner-occupied commercial estate loans, owner-occupied commercial real estate loans, unsecured fully-guaranteed commercial loans backed by the small business administration, loans secured by one-to four-family properties, and consumer and home equity loans. The company also provides brokerage and insurance services through its financial offerings consisting of college, retirement, estate planning, mutual funds, strategic asset management accounts, and variable and fixed annuities. Further, it offers a range of fiduciary and asset management, wealth management, investment management, financial planning, and trustee services. Camden National Corporation was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Camden, Maine.