First Security Bank Tops ROA List

Searcy-chartered First Security Bank topped the list of banks doing business in Northwest Arkansas in terms of which bank has the best return on assets.

The bank ended 2014 with an ROA of 2.26 percent, easily beating the No. 2 bank Today’s Bank of Huntsville, which had an ROA of 1.75 percent. Today’s ended 2013 ranked No. 16 on the list, with an ROA of 0.81 percent.

ROA is a popular metric used to determine a bank’s profitability. More specifically, it’s a ratio that gives an idea of how efficient management is at using its assets to generate profit.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. defines ROA as a percentage showing the percentage of how profitable a company’s assets are in generating profit. The higher the ROA, the more money the company is earning on its assets.

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal annually compiles a list of all banks doing business in Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Madison, Sebastian and Washington counties. It begins on Page 15, and is ranked by ROA.

First Security, which has 18 local offices, has topped the Business Journal’s annual ranking for five straight years.

According to the FDIC, Arkansas-chartered banks had a collective ROA of 1.27 percent at the end of 2014.

Six of the 30 private banks on the list were above that mark.