Critical Review: Firstsun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) & Park National (NYSE:PRK)

Firstsun Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSUN) and Park National (NYSE:PRK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Firstsun Capital Bancorp and Park National”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Firstsun Capital Bancorp	$363.57 million	3.04	$103.53 million	N/A	N/A
Park National	$564.30 million	4.78	$126.73 million	$8.38	19.92

Park National has higher revenue and earnings than Firstsun Capital Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Firstsun Capital Bancorp	16.45%	9.42%	1.10%
Park National	22.67%	12.49%	1.44%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of Park National shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Park National shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Firstsun Capital Bancorp and Park National, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Firstsun Capital Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Park National	0	2	0	0	2.00

Park National has a consensus price target of $130.00, suggesting a potential downside of 22.11%. Given Park National’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Park National is more favorable than Firstsun Capital Bancorp.

Summary

Park National beats Firstsun Capital Bancorp on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Firstsun Capital Bancorp

FirstSun Capital Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for Sunflower Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking and financial services to small and medium-sized companies in Texas, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. The company offers deposit products, including noninterest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand products, checking and savings accounts, money market and term certificate accounts, certificates of deposit, and treasury management products and services. It also provides loan products comprising commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans, residential mortgage loans, and small business administration loans, as well as consumer loans, such as personal, 1-4 family, home equity, multi-family, credit card accounts, overdrafts, and other revolving loans. In addition, it offers remote deposit and cash management products; wealth management and online banking products and services; and trust products, including personal trust and agency accounts, employee benefit and retirement related trust and agency accounts, investment management and advisory agency accounts, and foundation and endowment trust and agency accounts. The company was formerly known as Sunflower Financial, Inc. and changed its name to FirstSun Capital Bancorp in June 2017. FirstSun Capital Bancorp was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

About Park National

Park National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Park National Bank that provides commercial banking and trust services in small and medium population areas. The company offers deposits for demand, savings, and time accounts; trust and wealth management services; cash management services; safe deposit operations; electronic funds transfers; Internet and mobile banking solutions with bill pay service; credit cards; and various additional banking-related services. It also provides commercial loans, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, financing for equipment, inventory and accounts receivable, acquisition financing, and commercial leasing, as well as for consumer finance companies; commercial real estate loans comprising mortgage loans to developers and owners of commercial real estate; originates financing leases primarily for the purchase of commercial vehicles, operating/manufacturing equipment, and municipal vehicles/equipment; consumer loans, such as automobile loans; consumer finance services; home equity lines of credit; and residential real estate and construction loans, as well as installment loans and commercial loans. In addition, the company offers aircraft financing services; and ParkDirect, a personal banking application. Park National Corporation was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Newark, Ohio.