Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) & Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) Critical Contrast

Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) and Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Chemung Financial and Republic Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemung Financial	12.77%	12.68%	1.13%
Republic Bancorp	25.22%	11.45%	1.77%

Dividends

Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Chemung Financial pays out 35.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Republic Bancorp pays out 30.6% 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. Chemung Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years. Republic Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Chemung Financial and Republic Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemung Financial	0	2	0	1	2.67
Republic Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

Chemung Financial presently has a consensus target price of $64.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.16%. Given Chemung Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Chemung Financial is more favorable than Republic Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.4% of Chemung Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 55.9% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Chemung Financial and Republic Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemung Financial	$98.09 million	3.25	$15.10 million	$3.79	17.44
Republic Bancorp	$521.34 million	2.87	$131.32 million	$6.48	11.77

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

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Chemung Financial on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts. It also offers commercial and agricultural loans comprising loans to small to mid-sized businesses; commercial and residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including home equity lines of credit and home equity term loans. In addition, the company provides interest rate swaps, letters of credit, employee benefit plans, insurance products, mutual fund, brokerage, and tax preparation services. Further, it offers guardian, custodian, trustee, investment, pension, estate planning, and employee benefit administrative services, as well as acts as an agent for pension, profit-sharing, and other employee benefit trusts. Chemung Financial Corporation was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in Elmira, New York.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.