Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) vs. Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Critical Analysis

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are held by institutional investors. 27.9% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Citizens shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens pays out 8.2% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Citizens”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Southern Bancorp	$224.01 million	2.76	$61.81 million	$5.60	9.53
Citizens	$40.95 million	0.97	$5.49 million	$0.98	7.18

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

Volatility & Risk

Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens has a beta of 0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 98% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Great Southern Bancorp and Citizens, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Southern Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00
Citizens	0	0	0	0	0.00

Great Southern Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $59.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.46%. Given Great Southern Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Great Southern Bancorp is more favorable than Citizens.

Profitability

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Southern Bancorp	17.40%	10.62%	1.04%
Citizens	7.00%	11.28%	0.37%

Summary

Great Southern Bancorp beats Citizens on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

About Citizens

Citizens Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia that provides various commercial and personal banking products and services. It offers demand deposits; and savings and time deposit accounts. The company also provides secured and unsecured loans; mortgage loans; single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans; commercial, industrial, and agricultural production loans; and consumer loans, as well as issues letters of credit. In addition, it offers personal and corporate trust services; credit life and title insurance; and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.