Private Bancorp of America (OTCMKTS:PBAM) versus DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY) Critical Review

DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY) and Private Bancorp of America (OTCMKTS:PBAM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for DNB Bank ASA and Private Bancorp of America, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DNB Bank ASA	0	0	0	0	N/A
Private Bancorp of America	0	0	2	0	3.00

Private Bancorp of America has a consensus target price of $51.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.65%. Given Private Bancorp of America’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Private Bancorp of America is more favorable than DNB Bank ASA.

Risk & Volatility

DNB Bank ASA has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Private Bancorp of America has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.5% of Private Bancorp of America shares are held by institutional investors. 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.

Profitability

This table compares DNB Bank ASA and Private Bancorp of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DNB Bank ASA	18.94%	14.24%	1.05%
Private Bancorp of America	21.84%	16.96%	1.47%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares DNB Bank ASA and Private Bancorp of America”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DNB Bank ASA	$17.13 billion	1.84	$3.74 billion	$2.42	8.38
Private Bancorp of America	$130.58 million	1.86	$40.86 million	$6.88	6.14

DNB Bank ASA has higher revenue and earnings than Private Bancorp of America. Private Bancorp of America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DNB Bank ASA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Private Bancorp of America beats DNB Bank ASA on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DNB Bank ASA

DNB Bank ASA provides financial services for individual and business customers in Norway and internationally. The company offers savings, current, and pension accounts; fixed rate and security deposits; home and cabin mortgages, car and consumer loans, business loans, and refinancing; car, house, home contents, travel, personal, and non-life insurance product; payment services; and online and mobile banking services, as well as cards. It also provides overdraft facilities; leasing services; factoring, supply chain, and receivable purchase financing services; bank guarantee, secure trading, documentary collection, and letter of credit services; investment banking services, such as mergers and acquisition, equity and debt capital market, shares and securities, mutual funds and trading, and bonds and commodities; and private financing, as well as equity trading, foreign exchange, interest rates, and risk advisory services. In addition, the company offers treasury management, working capital, trade finance, auto lease and equipment financing, and corporate finance services, as well as act as an estate agents. DNB Bank ASA was founded in 1822 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

About Private Bancorp of America

Private Bancorp of America, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for CalPrivate Bank that provides banking products and services to individuals and businesses in California. The company offers checking and savings, money market, certificate of deposit, sweep, zero balance, and individual retirement accounts; unsecured lines of credit, personal credit lines, and term loans; additional services, such as direct deposits, online banking, ATM and debit cards, credit cards, savings/line of credit overdraft protection, and safe deposit boxes; and certificate of deposit account registry services. It also provides treasury management, merchant card, bill pay, positive pay, e-statement, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, wire transfer, electronic payments and collections, electronic check acceptance, account reconciliation, cash vault, and gift and business credit cards, as well as funds management services. In addition, the company offers term credit facilities and loans, equipment and business expansion loans, working capital lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction financing, letters of credit, business start-up loans, loans for business acquisition and partner buyouts, owner-occupied commercial real estate loans, equipment, furniture and fixture, and other loans; and CDARS And ICS products. Further, it provides wealth management and legal services. The company has offices in La Jolla, San Diego, Coronado, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, El Segundo, Temecula, Mission Valley, and Redlands. Private Bancorp of America, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.