Head to Head Contrast: Firstsun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) and Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) and Firstsun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) are both small-cap 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.

Profitability

This table compares Sandy Spring Bancorp and Firstsun Capital Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sandy Spring Bancorp	2.65%	5.31%	0.61%
Firstsun Capital Bancorp	13.77%	8.56%	1.07%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Sandy Spring Bancorp and Firstsun Capital Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sandy Spring Bancorp	0	3	0	0	2.00
Firstsun Capital Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00

Sandy Spring Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $29.33, suggesting a potential upside of 5.25%. Firstsun Capital Bancorp has a consensus price target of $46.67, suggesting a potential upside of 41.16%. Given Firstsun Capital Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Firstsun Capital Bancorp is more favorable than Sandy Spring Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sandy Spring Bancorp and Firstsun Capital Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sandy Spring Bancorp	$404.22 million	3.11	$19.93 million	$0.45	61.93
Firstsun Capital Bancorp	$377.44 million	2.43	$75.63 million	N/A	N/A

Firstsun Capital Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sandy Spring Bancorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.9% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Firstsun Capital Bancorp 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.

Summary

Firstsun Capital Bancorp beats Sandy Spring Bancorp on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products. Its loan products include commercial real estate loans, construction loans, and business loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines, installment loans, and personal lines of credit. The company provides investment management, financial planning, and wealth management services. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Olney, Maryland.

About Firstsun Capital Bancorp

FirstSun Capital Bancorp engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Mortgage Operations, and Corporate. The Banking segment consists of loans and provides deposits and fee-based services to consumer, business, and mortgage lending customers. The Mortgage Operations segment originates, sells, services, and manages market risk from changes in interest rates on one-to-four family residential mortgage loans to sell and hold. The company is founded on November 9, 1981 headquartered in Denver, CO.