Financial Review: Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) versus AmeriServ Financial (NASDAQ:ASRV)

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) and AmeriServ Financial (NASDAQ:ASRV) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Dividends

Citizens Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. AmeriServ Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Services pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AmeriServ Financial pays out 36.4% 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.

Volatility & Risk

Citizens Financial Services has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AmeriServ Financial has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

22.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.5% of AmeriServ Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of AmeriServ Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Financial Services and AmeriServ Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Financial Services	22.47%	11.89%	1.30%
AmeriServ Financial	6.20%	4.72%	0.38%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Citizens Financial Services and AmeriServ Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Services	0	2	0	1	2.67
AmeriServ Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Citizens Financial Services and AmeriServ Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Financial Services	$173.51 million	1.82	$36.57 million	$8.19	8.03
AmeriServ Financial	$88.34 million	0.74	$5.61 million	$0.33	11.61

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

Summary

Citizens Financial Services beats AmeriServ Financial on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Financial Services

Citizens Financial Services, Inc., a bank holding company, provides various banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, and time deposit accounts. Its loan products include residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; state and political subdivision loans; and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. The company also provides professional trust administration, investment management services, estate planning and administration, custody of securities, and individual retirement accounts. In addition, it offers brokerage and financial planning services, as well as assistance in various oil and gas leasing matters; and provides mutual funds, annuities, and health and life insurance products. Citizens Financial Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.

About AmeriServ Financial

AmeriServ Financial, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of consumer, mortgage and commercial financial products and services through its subsidiary. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wealth Management, and Investment or Parent. The Community Banking segment includes both retail and commercial banking activities. The Wealth Management segment involves in the operations of a Trust Company, West Chester Capital Advisors an investment advisory firm, and Financial Services. The Investment or Parent segment offers investment securities, borrowing activities, and general corporate expenses. The company was founded in January 1983 and is headquartered in Johnstown, PA.