Analyzing Suncrest Bank (OTCMKTS:SBKK) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN)

Suncrest Bank (OTCMKTS:SBKK) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Suncrest Bank and Citizens”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Suncrest Bank	$46.73 million	4.92	$16.96 million	$1.37	13.56
Citizens	$40.95 million	1.00	$5.49 million	$0.95	7.59

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Suncrest Bank and Citizens, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Suncrest Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
Citizens	0	0	1	0	3.00

Citizens has a consensus price target of $26.00, indicating a potential upside of 260.61%. Given Citizens’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Citizens is more favorable than Suncrest Bank.

Volatility & Risk

Suncrest Bank has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Suncrest Bank and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Suncrest Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Citizens	7.00%	11.28%	0.37%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

5.9% of Suncrest Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of Citizens shares are owned 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.

Summary

Citizens beats Suncrest Bank on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Suncrest Bank

Suncrest Bank engages in the provision of personal and commercial banking services. It provides checking, savings and certificates of deposits, lending, cash management, online and mobile banking, e-statements, remote deposit capture, financial calculators, and customer service center. It also offers agricultural real estate loans, production finance, equipment financing and leasing, development loans, long-term fixed rate, SBA and USDA loans, valley small business guaranteed loans, USDA B&I loans, farmer mac loans, and cal-cap loans. The company was founded on May 19, 2008 and is headquartered in Visalia, CA.

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.