Analyzing Community Investors Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CIBN) and ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS)

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) and Community Investors Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CIBN) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for ServisFirst Bancshares and Community Investors Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ServisFirst Bancshares	0	1	2	2	3.20
Community Investors Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

ServisFirst Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $93.67, suggesting a potential upside of 26.46%. Given ServisFirst Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe ServisFirst Bancshares is more favorable than Community Investors Bancorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.3% of ServisFirst Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.7% of ServisFirst Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.8% of Community Investors Bancorp shares are owned by company 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 ServisFirst Bancshares and Community Investors Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ServisFirst Bancshares	26.95%	16.36%	1.61%
Community Investors Bancorp	13.79%	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

ServisFirst Bancshares has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Investors Bancorp has a beta of 0.07, indicating that its stock price is 93% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ServisFirst Bancshares and Community Investors Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ServisFirst Bancshares	$555.79 million	7.28	$276.60 million	$5.06	14.64
Community Investors Bancorp	$19.58 million	N/A	$1.82 million	$3.64	6.73

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

Dividends

ServisFirst Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Community Investors Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. ServisFirst Bancshares pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Investors Bancorp pays out 11.0% 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. ServisFirst Bancshares has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. ServisFirst Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

ServisFirst Bancshares beats Community Investors Bancorp on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank that provides various banking services to individual and corporate customers. It accepts demand, time, savings, and other deposits; checking, money market, and IRA accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include commercial lending products, including seasonal, bridge, and term loans for working capital, expansion of the business, acquisition of property, and plant and equipment, as well as commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate loans, construction and development loans, and residential real estate loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, vehicle financing, loans secured by deposits, and secured and unsecured personal loans. It also offers other banking products and services comprising telephone and mobile banking, Internet banking, direct deposit, traveler's checks, safe deposit boxes, attorney trust accounts, automatic account transfers, automated teller machines, and debit and credit card systems; treasury and cash management services; wire transfer, night depository, banking-by-mail, and remote capture services; and correspondent banking services to other financial institutions. In addition, the company holds and manages participations in residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans originated by ServisFirst Bank in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

About Community Investors Bancorp

Community Investors Bancorp, Inc. operates as a thrift holding company for First Federal Community Bank of Bucyrus that engages in the provision of banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers in northern Ohio. The company offers deposit accounts, including demand, NOW, checking, savings, money market, Christmas club, health savings, certificates of deposit, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides consumer loans, home equity loans, home equity line of credit, auto and RV loans, residential real estate loans, mortgage loans, and construction loans for personal use; and business loans, lines of credit, term loans, ag loans, nonresidential real estate loans, secured loans, credit cards, commercial investment real estate, construction loans, and equipment financing for business use. In addition, the company offers online and mobile banking, bill payments, e-statements, remote deposit capture, cash management, mobile and night deposits, debit cards, overdraft protection, safety deposit boxes, telephone banking, positive pay/check reconciliation, direct deposit, and ACH and payroll services. Community Investors Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1888 and is based in Bucyrus, Ohio.