Analyzing Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBNK) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN)

Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBNK) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Origin Bancorp and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Origin Bancorp	20.47%	10.45%	0.97%
Citizens	7.00%	11.28%	0.37%

Risk & Volatility

Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens has a beta of -0.01, suggesting that its stock price is 101% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Origin Bancorp and Citizens, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Origin Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Citizens	0	0	1	0	3.00

Citizens has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 228.57%. Given Citizens’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Citizens is more favorable than Origin Bancorp.

Dividends

Origin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Origin Bancorp pays out 18.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens pays out 6.1% 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. Origin Bancorp has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Citizens has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Origin Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Citizens shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Origin Bancorp and Citizens”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Origin Bancorp	$347.14 million	3.15	$87.71 million	$3.21	11.07
Citizens	$40.95 million	0.97	$5.49 million	$1.31	5.34

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

Summary

Origin Bancorp beats Citizens on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, high net worth individuals, and retail clients. The firm’s products and services include lending, deposits, mortgage banking, and insurance. It also offers other banking services such as Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfers. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Ruston, LA.

About Citizens

Citizens Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia that provides various commercial and personal banking products and services. It offers demand deposits; and savings and time deposit accounts. The company also provides secured and unsecured loans; mortgage loans; single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans; commercial, industrial, and agricultural production loans; and consumer loans, as well as issues letters of credit. In addition, it offers personal and corporate trust services; credit life and title insurance; and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.