LifeStore Financial Group (OTCMKTS:LSFG) vs. Citizens Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CZWI) Head to Head Comparison

Citizens Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CZWI) and LifeStore Financial Group (OTCMKTS:LSFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Community Bancorp and LifeStore Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Community Bancorp	13.08%	7.05%	0.74%
LifeStore Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Citizens Community Bancorp and LifeStore Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Community Bancorp	0	1	0	1	3.00
LifeStore Financial Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Citizens Community Bancorp and LifeStore Financial Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Community Bancorp	$99.72 million	1.57	$13.75 million	$1.29	12.55
LifeStore Financial Group	$33.78 million	N/A	$5.56 million	N/A	N/A

Citizens Community Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than LifeStore Financial Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.1% of Citizens Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Citizens Community Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.2% of LifeStore Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Citizens Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LifeStore Financial Group has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Citizens Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. LifeStore Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Citizens Community Bancorp pays out 27.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens Community Bancorp has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Citizens Community Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Citizens Community Bancorp beats LifeStore Financial Group on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Community Bancorp

Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Citizens Community Federal N.A. that provides various traditional community banking services to businesses, agricultural operators, and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, including demand deposits, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers various loan products, such as commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, agricultural real estate, agricultural operating, and consumer loans; and one-to-four family residential mortgages and home equity lines-of-credit. In addition, it maintains a portfolio of investments comprising mortgage-backed, corporate asset-backed, U.S. Government sponsored agency, and corporate debt securities. Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

About LifeStore Financial Group

LifeStore Financial Group, Inc. operates as a federally chartered thrift holding company for LifeStore Bank that provides personal and business banking products and services in North Carolina. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; mortgage loans, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate loans, commercial construction loans, investment property loans, equipment loans, working capital loans/lines of credit, and small business administration loans; and credit cards. It also provides insurance agency products and services; investment and cash management services; and online and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as AF Financial Group and changed its name to LifeStore Financial Group, Inc. in September 2009. LifeStore Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in West Jefferson, North Carolina. Lifestore Financial Group, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of AsheCo MHC, Inc.