Catalyst Bancorp (NASDAQ:CLST) and Community Capital Bancshares (OTCMKTS:ALBY) Critical Review

Community Capital Bancshares (OTCMKTS:ALBY) and Catalyst Bancorp (NASDAQ:CLST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Community Capital Bancshares and Catalyst Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Capital Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Catalyst Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Risk and Volatility

Community Capital Bancshares has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Catalyst Bancorp has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Community Capital Bancshares and Catalyst Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Capital Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
Catalyst Bancorp	14.42%	2.75%	0.80%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.1% of Catalyst Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 42.4% of Community Capital Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of Catalyst Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Community Capital Bancshares and Catalyst Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Capital Bancshares	$15.03 million	2.53	$4.45 million	$3.67	7.97
Catalyst Bancorp	$10.02 million	6.39	-$3.09 million	$0.59	26.40

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

Summary

Catalyst Bancorp beats Community Capital Bancshares on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Capital Bancshares

Community Capital Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for AB&T that provides various banking products and services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. Its loan products include commercial and residential real estate, commercial, financial, agricultural, consumer installment, overdrafts and other revolving credit, and educational loans. The company also offers money transfer, bill pay, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, and merchant services, as well as online, mobile, and text message banking services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Albany, Georgia.

About Catalyst Bancorp

Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Catalyst Bank that provides various banking services to individuals and businesses in Louisiana. The company accepts various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand and NOW accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also offers single family residential first mortgage loans, commercial real estate mortgage loans, multi-family residential mortgage loans, commercial and industrial loans, construction and land loans, consumer loans, and other loans. In addition, the company invests in various types of securities comprising mortgage-backed securities, the U.S. treasury obligations, securities of various federal agencies and of state and municipal governments, certificates of deposit at federally insured banks and savings institutions, and federal funds. Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Opelousas, Louisiana.