Critical Survey: Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) & Trustmark (NASDAQ:TRMK)

Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) and Trustmark (NASDAQ:TRMK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.6% of Trustmark shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Trustmark shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Trustmark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colony Bankcorp	14.83%	10.68%	1.04%
Trustmark	20.12%	10.74%	1.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Colony Bankcorp and Trustmark, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colony Bankcorp	0	0	3	1	3.25
Trustmark	0	5	2	0	2.29

Colony Bankcorp currently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.01%. Trustmark has a consensus target price of $44.75, suggesting a potential upside of 0.86%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than Trustmark.

Volatility & Risk

Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trustmark has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Trustmark”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colony Bankcorp	$190.23 million	2.21	$28.25 million	$1.60	12.39
Trustmark	$695.71 million	3.75	$224.13 million	$3.78	11.74

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

Dividends

Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Trustmark pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Colony Bankcorp pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Trustmark pays out 26.5% 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 raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Trustmark has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Colony Bankcorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Trustmark beats Colony Bankcorp on 10 of the 18 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 various 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. As of January 20, 2022, it operated 39 locations throughout Georgia. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

About Trustmark

Trustmark Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Trustmark National Bank that provides banking and other financial solutions to individuals and corporate institutions in the United States. The company operates through three segments: General Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; certificates of deposits and individual retirement accounts; financing for commercial and industrial projects, income-producing commercial real estate, owner-occupied real estate, and construction and land development; and installment and real estate loans, and lines of credit, as well as treasury management services. The company also provides mortgage banking services, including construction financing, production of conventional and government-insured mortgages, and secondary marketing and mortgage servicing. In addition, it provides wealth management and trust services, such as administration of personal trusts and estates; management of investment accounts for individuals, employee benefit plans, and charitable foundations; and corporate trust and institutional custody, securities brokerage, financial and estate planning, retirement plan, and investment management services. Further, the company offers business insurance products and services for medical professionals, construction, manufacturing, hospitality, real estate, and group life and health plans; and life and health insurance, and personal line policies for individual customers. Trustmark Corporation was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi.