Contrasting Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE:BHB) and Community Heritage Financial (OTCMKTS:CMHF)

Profitability

This table compares Community Heritage Financial and Bar Harbor Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Heritage Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bar Harbor Bankshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Community Heritage Financial and Bar Harbor Bankshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Heritage Financial	$57.30 million	1.29	$7.09 million	$2.42	10.41
Bar Harbor Bankshares	$150.40 million	3.12	$43.65 million	$2.85	10.73

Bar Harbor Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Community Heritage Financial. Community Heritage Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bar Harbor Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.2% of Community Heritage Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.5% of Bar Harbor Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Bar Harbor Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Community Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bar Harbor Bankshares has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Community Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Bar Harbor Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Community Heritage Financial pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bar Harbor Bankshares pays out 44.9% 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. Bar Harbor Bankshares has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Bar Harbor Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Bar Harbor Bankshares beats Community Heritage Financial on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Heritage Financial

Community Heritage Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Middletown Valley Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Its primary deposit products include demand, savings, and time deposits, as well as lending products comprise real estate mortgages, commercial business loans, and instalment loans. The company also offers mortgage financing, new home purchases, refinancing, and construction lending in Middletown, Crofton, and Oakland, Maryland. The company was founded in 1908 and is based in Middletown, Maryland.

About Bar Harbor Bankshares

Bar Harbor Bankshares operates as the holding company for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust that provides commercial, lending, retail, and wealth management banking services. It accepts various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans, such as multi-family, commercial construction and land development, and other commercial real estate classes; commercial and industrial loans, including loans to commercial and agricultural businesses, and tax exempt entities; residential real estate loans consists of mortgages for 1-4 family housing; and consumer loans comprises home equity loans, lines of credit, auto, and other installment lending. In addition, it provides life insurance, annuity, and retirement products, as well as financial planning services; and third-party investment and insurance services. Further, the company offers trust and estate administration, wealth advisory, and investment management services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and municipalities; and 401K plan, financial, estate and charitable planning, investment management, family office, municipal, and tax services. It operates 53 locations across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Bar Harbor, Maine.