Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) & Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Head to Head Comparison

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) and Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Home BancShares	32.10%	11.12%	2.07%
Colony Bankcorp	15.42%	10.40%	1.06%

Risk and Volatility

Home BancShares has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Home BancShares pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Home BancShares pays out 38.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Colony Bankcorp pays out 29.1% 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. Home BancShares has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Colony Bankcorp has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Home BancShares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.3% of Home BancShares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Home BancShares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Home BancShares and Colony Bankcorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Home BancShares	$1.11 billion	5.15	$475.44 million	$2.42	11.80
Colony Bankcorp	$190.23 million	2.27	$28.25 million	$1.65	12.36

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Home BancShares and Colony Bankcorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Home BancShares	0	4	5	0	2.56
Colony Bankcorp	0	1	3	0	2.75

Home BancShares presently has a consensus target price of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.57%. Colony Bankcorp has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.82%. Given Home BancShares’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Home BancShares is more favorable than Colony Bankcorp.

Summary

Home BancShares beats Colony Bankcorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Home BancShares

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) operates as the bank holding company for Centennial Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, and related financial services to businesses, real estate developers and investors, individuals, and municipalities. Its deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan portfolio comprises non-farm/non-residential real estate, construction/land development, residential mortgage, consumer, agricultural, and commercial and industrial loans. It provides internet banking, mobile banking and voice response information, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, and automatic account transfer services, as well as safe deposit boxes and the United States savings bonds. In addition, the company writes policies for commercial and personal lines of business, including insurance for property, casualty, life, health, and employee benefits. It operates through branches in Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Texas, and New York City. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Conway, Arkansas.

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.