Comparing Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS)

Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) and Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Dividends

Citizens Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Republic Bancorp pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.2% of Citizens Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 56.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Citizens Bancshares and Republic Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Bancshares	$44.68 million	1.67	$12.88 million	N/A	N/A
Republic Bancorp	$505.64 million	2.87	$101.37 million	$6.53	11.38

Republic Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Bancshares.

Volatility & Risk

Citizens Bancshares has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Citizens Bancshares and Republic Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Republic Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33

Republic Bancorp has a consensus price target of $69.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.11%. Given Republic Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Republic Bancorp is more favorable than Citizens Bancshares.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
Republic Bancorp	24.53%	12.23%	1.83%

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Citizens Bancshares on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Bancshares

Citizens Bancshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers checking and savings accounts; and demand and money market deposits. Its loan products include commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; loans secured by personal property, such as automobiles, marketable securities, and other titled recreational vehicles and motorcycles, as well as unsecured consumer debt; commercial real estate loans; single-family residential loans; and construction and development loans. The company also offers investment accounts and certificate of deposit account registry services. In addition, it provides merchant services, which include point of sale terminal, credit and debit card processing, electronic benefits transfer, gift card, and Internet shopping cart services; cash management services; and credit cards. Further, the company offers online and mobile banking, as well as check reorder services. Citizens Bancshares Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.