Analyzing C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) and First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) and C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Volatility & Risk

First Citizens BancShares has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, C&F Financial has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Citizens BancShares and C&F Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Citizens BancShares	$14.97 billion	1.61	$2.78 billion	$169.46	11.00
C&F Financial	$170.13 million	1.31	$19.83 million	$7.55	9.10

First Citizens BancShares has higher revenue and earnings than C&F Financial. C&F Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Citizens BancShares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Citizens BancShares and C&F Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Citizens BancShares	0	6	7	0	2.54
C&F Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Citizens BancShares presently has a consensus price target of $2,291.17, suggesting a potential upside of 22.90%. Given First Citizens BancShares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Citizens BancShares is more favorable than C&F Financial.

Dividends

First Citizens BancShares pays an annual dividend of $7.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Citizens BancShares pays out 4.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. C&F Financial pays out 24.4% 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. First Citizens BancShares has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and C&F Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.0% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of C&F Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.4% of First Citizens BancShares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of C&F Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares First Citizens BancShares and C&F Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Citizens BancShares	16.37%	11.32%	1.08%
C&F Financial	13.67%	10.52%	0.94%

Summary

First Citizens BancShares beats C&F Financial on 16 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. operates as the holding company for First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and professionals. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts. Its loan product portfolio comprises commercial construction and mortgage; and commercial and industrial leases, as well as small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers consumer loans, such as residential and revolving mortgage, consumer auto, and other consumer loans. Further, it provides wealth management services, including annuities, brokerage services, and third-party mutual funds, as well as investment management and advisory services. The company provides its products and services through its branch network. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

About C&F Financial

C&F Financial Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals and businesses. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Mortgage Banking and Consumer Finance. The Community Banking segment provides checking and savings deposit accounts, business, real estate, development, mortgage, home equity, and installment loans. The Mortgage Banking segment offers ancillary mortgage loan origination services for loan settlement and residential appraisals. The Consumer Finance segment consists of automobile financing through lending programs that are designed to serve customers in the non-prime market who have limited access to traditional automobile financing. The company was founded on March 8, 1994 and is headquartered in Toano, VA.