Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc.

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 in the United States. 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.

Stellar Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company that provides a range of commercial banking products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individual customers. It offers deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and other time deposits, as well as convenient services, such as telephone, mobile, and online banking. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans; commercial real estate loans comprising multi-family residential loans; commercial real estate construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans comprising 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, including home equity and home improvement loans, and home equity lines of credit; commercial and retail lending services, such as loans to small businesses, mortgage loans, personal loans, and automobile loans; and factoring services. In addition, it offers safe deposit boxes, debit cards, cash management and wire transfer services, night depository services, direct deposits, cashier’s checks, and letters of credit. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Latest Banks and Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp, Inc. Stock News

As of February 11, 2026, Park National Corporation had a $3.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $562.5 million. Park National Corporation’s stock is up 13.4% in 2026, down 1.5% in the previous five trading days and up 1.04% in the past year.

Currently, Park National Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 15.9. Park National Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $535.8 million with a 33.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $11.777 per share for the current fiscal year. Park National Corporation currently has a 2.5% dividend yield.

As of February 11, 2026, Stellar Bancorp, Inc. had a $2.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 55th percentile of all stocks. Stellar Bancorp, Inc.’s stock is up 28.3% in 2026, up 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 38.03% in the past year.

Currently, Stellar Bancorp, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 20.5. Stellar Bancorp, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $416.5 million with a 24.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -7.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.177 per share for the current fiscal year. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. currently has a 1.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Park National Corporation	PRK	C
Stellar Bancorp, Inc.	STEL	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Park National Corporation has a Value Score of 46, which is Average. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. has a Value Score of 49, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Park National Corporation	PRK	D
Stellar Bancorp, Inc.	STEL	D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Park National Corporation has a Quality Score of 36, which is Weak. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. has a Quality Score of 28, which is Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp or Inc. has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Park National Corporation	PRK	C
Stellar Bancorp, Inc.	STEL	B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Park National Corporation has a Momentum Score of 44, which is Average. Stellar Bancorp, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 75, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Stellar Bancorp, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Stellar Bancorp, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Park National Corporation. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Stellar Bancorp, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc. Grades

In addition to Momentum, Value and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Park National Corporation stock has a Value Score of 46, Momentum Score of 44 and Quality Score of 36.

Stellar Bancorp, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 49, Momentum Score of 75 and Quality Score of 28.

Comparing Park National Corporation, Stellar Bancorp and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.