Comparing Eagle Financial Services (OTCMKTS:EFSI) & Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN)

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) and Eagle Financial Services (OTCMKTS:EFSI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.7% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Financial Services has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Colony Bankcorp and Eagle Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colony Bankcorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Eagle Financial Services	0	0	0	0	0.00

Colony Bankcorp presently has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.20%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than Eagle Financial Services.

Profitability

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Eagle Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colony Bankcorp	13.51%	9.64%	0.85%
Eagle Financial Services	13.59%	10.92%	0.67%

Dividends

Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Eagle Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Colony Bankcorp pays out 28.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Financial Services pays out 55.6% 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. Colony Bankcorp has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Eagle Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colony Bankcorp	$126.05 million	2.28	$23.87 million	$1.59	10.38
Eagle Financial Services	$59.17 million	3.28	$15.34 million	$2.23	16.19

Colony Bankcorp has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Financial Services. Colony Bankcorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eagle Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Colony Bankcorp beats Eagle Financial Services on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, and remote depository products, as well as access to a network of ATMs. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

About Eagle Financial Services

Eagle Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Clarke that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia and Frederick, Maryland. It operates through three segments: Community Banking, Marine Lending, and Wealth Management. The company's deposit products include checking, NOW, money market, and regular savings accounts; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises one-to-four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction and land development, and commercial and industrial loans, as well as secured and unsecured consumer loans, which include personal installment loans, personal lines of credit, automobile loans, and credit card loans. The company also offers fiduciary services; advisory services and investment products, including individual retirement accounts, mutual funds, tax-deferred annuities, 529 college savings plans, life insurance, long term care insurance, brokerage certificates of deposit, and other brokerage services; non-deposit investment products; and title insurance products. In addition, it provides ATM and debit cards; online bill payment services; wealth management services; and telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, as well as other commercial deposit account services, such as ACH origination and remote deposit capture services. The company operates through full-service branches, loan production offices, drive-through only facility, and ATM locations in the Virginia communities of Berryville, Winchester, Boyce, Stephens City, Purcellville, Warrenton, Leesburg, Ashburn, and Fairfax, as well as Maryland community of Frederick. Eagle Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Berryville, Virginia.