Cadence Bank (NYSE:CADE) vs. Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Head-To-Head Review

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) and Cadence Bank (NYSE:CADE) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Equity Bancshares and Cadence Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50
Cadence Bank	0	4	7	0	2.64

Equity Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $46.60, indicating a potential upside of 14.06%. Cadence Bank has a consensus price target of $36.82, indicating a potential upside of 15.67%. Given Cadence Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cadence Bank is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Cadence Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Bancshares	$225.03 million	3.18	$62.62 million	$3.93	10.40
Cadence Bank	$921.95 million	6.29	$523.60 million	$2.85	11.17

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

Profitability

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Cadence Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	18.66%	14.64%	1.31%
Cadence Bank	18.03%	9.87%	1.07%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.6% of Cadence Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Cadence Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Cadence Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Equity Bancshares pays out 15.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cadence Bank pays out 38.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Equity Bancshares has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Cadence Bank has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Cadence Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cadence Bank has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cadence Bank beats Equity Bancshares on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

About Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank provides commercial banking and financial services. Its products and services include consumer banking, consumer loans, mortgages, home equity lines and loans, credit cards, commercial and business banking, treasury management, specialized and asset-based lending, commercial real estate, equipment financing, and correspondent banking services. The company’s products and services also comprise small business administration lending, foreign exchange, wealth management, investment and trust, financial planning, retirement plan management, and personal and business insurance services. Cadence Bank was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi.