Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) & Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) Critical Comparison

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Home Bancorp has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Home Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Home Bancorp pays out 22.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares pays out 25.8% 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 Bancorp has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Home Bancorp and Civista Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Home Bancorp	$209.23 million	2.30	$46.06 million	$5.67	10.82
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.33	$46.21 million	$2.79	10.24

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

Profitability

This table compares Home Bancorp and Civista Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Home Bancorp	21.05%	10.01%	1.25%
Civista Bancshares	21.82%	10.97%	1.41%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Home Bancorp and Civista Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Home Bancorp	0	3	2	0	2.40
Civista Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Home Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $65.17, suggesting a potential upside of 6.24%. Civista Bancshares has a consensus target price of $30.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.88%. Given Home Bancorp’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Home Bancorp is more favorable than Civista Bancshares.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.4% of Home Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of Home Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats Home Bancorp on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Home Bank, National Association that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It offers deposit products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, money market, savings, NOW, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides various loan products comprising one-to four-family first mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines, commercial real estate loans, construction and land loans, multi-family residential loans, commercial and industrial loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it invests in securities; and offers credit cards and online banking services. Home Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.