Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN – Get Free Report) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.
Dividends
Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Citizens pays out 8.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity Bancshares pays out 14.9% 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. Citizens has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Equity Bancshares has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Equity Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Citizens and Equity Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Citizens | $40.95 million | 1.00 | $5.49 million | $0.95 | 7.60 |
| Equity Bancshares | $228.94 million | 3.01 | $62.62 million | $4.03 | 9.76 |
Equity Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens. Citizens is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equity Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
9.7% of Citizens shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 8.9% of Citizens shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Citizens and Equity Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Citizens | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Equity Bancshares | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
Citizens presently has a consensus target price of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 260.11%. Equity Bancshares has a consensus target price of $47.80, suggesting a potential upside of 21.50%. Given Citizens’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Citizens is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.
Profitability
This table compares Citizens and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Citizens | 7.00% | 11.28% | 0.37% |
| Equity Bancshares | 18.66% | 14.64% | 1.31% |
Risk and Volatility
Citizens has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Equity Bancshares beats Citizens on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Citizens
Citizens Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia that provides various commercial and personal banking products and services. It offers demand deposits; and savings and time deposit accounts. The company also provides secured and unsecured loans; mortgage loans; single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans; commercial, industrial, and agricultural production loans; and consumer loans, as well as issues letters of credit. In addition, it offers personal and corporate trust services; credit life and title insurance; and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
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.
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