Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) & Isabella Bank (OTCMKTS:ISBA) Critical Contrast

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) and Isabella Bank (OTCMKTS:ISBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of Isabella Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Isabella Bank has a beta of 0.11, suggesting that its stock price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Colony Bankcorp and Isabella Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colony Bankcorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Isabella Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00

Colony Bankcorp presently has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.54%. Isabella Bank has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.65%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than Isabella Bank.

Profitability

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Isabella Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colony Bankcorp	13.51%	9.64%	0.85%
Isabella Bank	13.28%	7.34%	0.73%

Dividends

Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Isabella Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Colony Bankcorp pays out 29.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Isabella Bank pays out 51.1% 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. Colony Bankcorp has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Isabella Bank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colony Bankcorp	$121.88 million	2.46	$23.87 million	$1.58	10.85
Isabella Bank	$70.49 million	3.39	$13.89 million	$2.19	14.84

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

Summary

Colony Bankcorp beats Isabella Bank on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, and remote depository products, as well as access to a network of ATMs. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

About Isabella Bank

Isabella Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Isabella Bank that provides various banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and individuals and their families. Its deposit products include checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, direct deposits, and money market accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises commercial, agricultural, and residential real estate loans, as well as consumer loans, including secured and unsecured personal loans. It also offers cash management, mobile and internet banking, electronic bill pay, automated teller machines, trust and investment, estate planning, and safe deposit box rental services; and insurance products. The company operated banking offices in Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, and Saginaw counties. Isabella Bank Corporation was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.