Contrasting Bank First National (BFC) and Its Rivals

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) is one of 920 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Bank First National to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

Bank First National pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Bank First National pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.5% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank First National has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Bank First National lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Bank First National and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank First National	0	2	2	1	2.80
Bank First National Competitors	7449	30140	27689	1450	2.35

Bank First National currently has a consensus target price of $163.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.93%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 17.42%. Given Bank First National’s peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Bank First National has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Bank First National and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank First National	27.38%	12.89%	1.78%
Bank First National Competitors	15.48%	9.50%	0.93%

Risk and Volatility

Bank First National has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank First National’s peers have a beta of 0.60, meaning that their average share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bank First National and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank First National	$243.93 million	$71.50 million	18.68
Bank First National Competitors	$37.78 billion	$2.41 billion	18.99

Bank First National’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Bank First National. Bank First National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

29.9% of Bank First National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of Bank First National shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Bank First National peers beat Bank First National on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Bank First National Company Profile

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products. The company's loan products include real estate loans, including commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and home equity loans; commercial and industrial loans for working capital, accounts receivable, inventory financing, and other business purposes; construction and development loans; residential 1-4 family loans; and consumer loans for personal and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment loans, and revolving lines of credit. It also provides credit cards; ATM processing; insurance; data processing and other information technology; investment and safekeeping; treasury management; and online, telephone, and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as Bank First National Corporation and changed its name to Bank First Corporation in June 2019. Bank First Corporation was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.