Solera National Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SLRK) vs. Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) Head-To-Head Review

Solera National Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SLRK) and Shore Bancshares (NASDAQ:SHBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Solera National Bancorp and Shore Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solera National Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Shore Bancshares	0	2	0	0	2.00

Shore Bancshares has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.01%. Given Shore Bancshares’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Shore Bancshares is more favorable than Solera National Bancorp.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Solera National Bancorp and Shore Bancshares’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solera National Bancorp	$65.19 million	0.62	$16.66 million	$3.47	2.69
Shore Bancshares	$199.15 million	2.36	$11.23 million	$0.58	24.40

Solera National Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Shore Bancshares. Solera National Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Shore Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Solera National Bancorp has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shore Bancshares has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.8% of Shore Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 17.4% of Solera National Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Shore Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Solera National Bancorp and Shore Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solera National Bancorp	22.01%	N/A	N/A
Shore Bancshares	7.18%	8.37%	0.73%

Summary

Shore Bancshares beats Solera National Bancorp on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solera National Bancorp

Solera National Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Solera National Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services in the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, time and demand deposits, and individual retirement accounts (IRA), as well as certificates of deposit; and real estate secured loans, construction loans, small business administration loans, business lines of credit, and equipment financing. It also provides online banking, account analysis, combined account analysis, commercial sweep, remote deposit, ACH origination, payroll direct deposit, merchant, business debit card, and cash management services. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Lakewood, Colorado.

About Shore Bancshares

Shore Bancshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Shore United Bank, N.A. that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. It offers checking, savings, overnight investment sweep, and money market accounts; and regular and IRA certificates of deposit, as well as CDARS programs and cash management services. The company also provides commercial loans, such as secured and unsecured loans, working capital loans, lines of credit, term loans, accounts receivable financing, real estate acquisition and development loans, construction loans, and letters of credit; residential real estate construction loans; residential mortgage loans; and loans to consumers, including home equity, automobile, installment, home improvement, and personal lines of credit, as well as other consumer financing products. In addition, it offers trust, asset management, and financial planning services; treasury management services, such as merchant card processing, remote deposit capture, and ACH origination, as well as telephone, mobile, and Internet banking services; safe deposit boxes; debit and credit cards; and automatic teller machine services. Shore Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Easton, Maryland.