Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) versus Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Head-To-Head Contrast

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) and Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Origin Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Bancshares	$335.67 million	2.32	$62.62 million	$4.03	10.06
Origin Bancorp	$619.96 million	1.66	$76.49 million	$2.24	14.70

Origin Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Equity Bancshares. Equity Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Origin Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Origin Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of Origin Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Origin Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	19.99%	12.17%	1.33%
Origin Bancorp	11.98%	5.98%	0.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Equity Bancshares and Origin Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0	0	1	2	3.67
Origin Bancorp	0	1	5	0	2.83

Origin Bancorp has a consensus price target of $43.20, suggesting a potential upside of 31.19%. Given Origin Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Origin Bancorp is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Dividends

Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Origin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Equity Bancshares pays out 17.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Origin Bancorp pays out 26.8% 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.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Origin Bancorp on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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-backed, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products to national and regional companies, restaurant franchisees, hoteliers, real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, agribusiness companies, and other businesses. The company’s loan products also comprise various consumer loans to individuals and professionals, including residential real estate loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, installment loans, unsecured and secured personal lines of credit, overdraft protection, and letters of credit. It also provides debit cards; 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. As of December 31, 2021, it operated a network of 69 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

About Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Origin Bank that provides banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, high net worth individuals, and retail clients in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It offers noninterest and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, money market accounts, and time deposits; and offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, consumer, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, mortgage warehouse, residential mortgage, and paycheck protection program loans. The company also offers personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance products; and Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit box, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfer services; and treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing facilities, peer-to-peer electronic pay solutions, and personal financial management solutions. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 44 banking centers. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.