Contrasting Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) & Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB)

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.8% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Civista Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp Montana	$90.17 million	1.93	$14.84 million	$1.88	11.63
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.30	$46.21 million	$2.66	8.94

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

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Civista Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp Montana	11.67%	8.06%	0.70%
Civista Bancshares	18.12%	10.48%	1.15%

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp Montana pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Eagle Bancorp Montana pays out 30.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares pays out 27.1% 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Civista Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Eagle Bancorp Montana and Civista Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp Montana	0	2	1	0	2.33
Civista Bancshares	0	4	3	0	2.43

Eagle Bancorp Montana presently has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.22%. Civista Bancshares has a consensus price target of $26.20, indicating a potential upside of 10.22%. Given Civista Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp Montana.

Risk and Volatility

Eagle Bancorp Montana has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats Eagle Bancorp Montana on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, such as residential mortgages and construction of residential properties; commercial real estate loans, including multi-family dwellings, nonresidential property, commercial construction and development, and farmland loans; and second mortgage/home equity loans. In addition, it offers consumer loans, such as loans secured by collateral other than real estate, such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, and boats; personal loans and lines of credit; commercial business loans consisting of business loans and lines of credit on a secured and unsecured basis; construction loans; agricultural loans; and mortgage loan services. The company operates full-service branches and automated teller machines. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Helena, Montana.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.