Contrasting SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) and CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE)

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) and SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

CNB Financial has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SB Financial Group has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares CNB Financial and SB Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNB Financial	$364.58 million	1.36	$54.58 million	$2.33	10.17
SB Financial Group	$81.37 million	1.56	$11.47 million	$1.70	11.47

CNB Financial has higher revenue and earnings than SB Financial Group. CNB Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SB Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.4% of CNB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.7% of SB Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of CNB Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of SB Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares CNB Financial and SB Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNB Financial	14.50%	9.80%	0.88%
SB Financial Group	13.47%	9.23%	0.85%

Dividends

CNB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. SB Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. CNB Financial pays out 30.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SB Financial Group pays out 35.3% 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. CNB Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and SB Financial Group has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. SB Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for CNB Financial and SB Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNB Financial	0	1	1	0	2.50
SB Financial Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

CNB Financial presently has a consensus price target of $26.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.76%. Given CNB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe CNB Financial is more favorable than SB Financial Group.

Summary

CNB Financial beats SB Financial Group on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for CNB Bank that provides a range of banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; and offers real estate, commercial, industrial, residential, and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. It also provides private banking; and wealth and asset management services, including the administration of trusts and estates, retirement plans, and other employee benefit plans, as well as a range of wealth management services. In addition, the company invests in debt and equity securities; sells nonproprietary annuities and other insurance products; and offers small balance unsecured loans and secured loans primarily collateralized by automobiles and equipment, as well as engages in consumer discount loan and finance business. The company was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans. The company also provides automatic teller machine, personal and corporate trust, commercial leasing, bank credit card, safe deposit box rental, internet banking, private client group, and other personalized banking products and services; and various trust and financial services comprising asset management services for individuals and corporate employee benefit plans, as well as brokerage services. In addition, it sells insurance products to retail and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as Rurban Financial Corp. and changed its name to SB Financial Group, Inc. in April 2013. SB Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Defiance, Ohio.