Critical Survey: CrossFirst Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFB) vs. Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

CrossFirst Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFB) and Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.3% of CrossFirst Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.1% of Bank of Nova Scotia shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of CrossFirst Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

CrossFirst Bankshares has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of Nova Scotia has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares CrossFirst Bankshares and Bank of Nova Scotia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CrossFirst Bankshares	14.52%	10.72%	1.04%
Bank of Nova Scotia	10.20%	11.56%	0.61%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for CrossFirst Bankshares and Bank of Nova Scotia, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CrossFirst Bankshares	0	0	4	0	3.00
Bank of Nova Scotia	0	3	5	1	2.78

CrossFirst Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 18.14%. Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus target price of $72.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.33%. Given Bank of Nova Scotia’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of Nova Scotia is more favorable than CrossFirst Bankshares.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares CrossFirst Bankshares and Bank of Nova Scotia”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CrossFirst Bankshares	$254.34 million	3.04	$66.67 million	$1.47	10.65
Bank of Nova Scotia	$33.62 billion	1.99	$5.70 billion	$4.32	12.41

Bank of Nova Scotia has higher revenue and earnings than CrossFirst Bankshares. CrossFirst Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank of Nova Scotia, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Bank of Nova Scotia beats CrossFirst Bankshares on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CrossFirst Bankshares

CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for CrossFirst Bank that provides various banking and financial services to businesses, business owners, professionals, and its personal networks. The company offers commercial and industrial loans, including enterprise value lending; commercial real estate loans; construction and development loans, such as home builder lending; residential real estate, multifamily real estate, energy, SBA, and consumer loans; and credit cards. It also provides deposit banking products, including personal and business checking and savings accounts; treasury management services; money market accounts; certificates of deposits; negotiable order of withdrawal accounts; automated teller machine access; and mobile banking and international banking services, as well as non-interest-bearing demand deposits and interest-bearing deposits, including transaction accounts. In addition, the company acquires brokered deposits, internet subscription certificates of deposit, and reciprocal deposits. Further, it holds investments in marketable securities. The company serves its clients though branch network, as well as digital banking products. It has full-service banking offices in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and retail automotive financing solutions. It also provides business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses. In addition, it provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternatives, and institutional funds. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.