Analyzing Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) & 1st Colonial Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FCOB)

1st Colonial Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FCOB) and Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Volatility and Risk

1st Colonial Bancorp has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares 1st Colonial Bancorp and Fulton Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
1st Colonial Bancorp	$42.11 million	1.74	$7.43 million	$1.55	9.90
Fulton Financial	$1.07 billion	3.10	$284.28 million	$1.61	11.34

Fulton Financial has higher revenue and earnings than 1st Colonial Bancorp. 1st Colonial Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fulton Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares 1st Colonial Bancorp and Fulton Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
1st Colonial Bancorp	16.80%	10.94%	0.92%
Fulton Financial	17.93%	11.29%	1.03%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.4% of 1st Colonial Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Fulton Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for 1st Colonial Bancorp and Fulton Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
1st Colonial Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Fulton Financial	0	4	1	0	2.20

Fulton Financial has a consensus price target of $18.40, suggesting a potential upside of 0.77%. Given Fulton Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fulton Financial is more favorable than 1st Colonial Bancorp.

Summary

Fulton Financial beats 1st Colonial Bancorp on 13 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 1st Colonial Bancorp

1st Colonial Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for 1st Colonial Community Bank that provides a range of business and consumer financial services in New Jersey. The company offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, club accounts, and business and personal checking accounts. It also provides home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, personal and vehicle loans, residential and commercial mortgages, construction loans, business lines of credit, equipment and vehicle financing, real estate loans, working capital line of credit, and business acquisition loans, as well as small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers cash management services comprising remote deposit capture, ACH/wire transfer, night deposit drop, and merchant services; safe deposit boxes; and coin counting, online and mobile banking, debit card, and ATM services. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company offers consumer loans products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans, personal lines of credit, and checking account overdraft protection; construction and jumbo residential mortgage loans; and commercial lending products comprising commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and construction loans, as well as equipment lease financing loans. In addition, it offers letters of credit, cash management services, and traditional deposit products; and wealth management services, including investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and investment advisory services. Further, the company owns trust preferred securities; and sells various life insurance products. It provides its products and services through financial center offices, as well as through a network of automated teller machines, telephone banking, mobile banking, and online banking. Fulton Financial Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.