ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) vs. SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) Head-To-Head Survey

ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) and SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for ConnectOne Bancorp and SB Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ConnectOne Bancorp	0	0	2	0	3.00
SB Financial Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

ConnectOne Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $30.25, suggesting a potential upside of 24.74%. Given ConnectOne Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ConnectOne Bancorp is more favorable than SB Financial Group.

Volatility & Risk

ConnectOne Bancorp has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SB Financial Group has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ConnectOne Bancorp and SB Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ConnectOne Bancorp	14.48%	7.05%	0.82%
SB Financial Group	13.78%	9.63%	0.88%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.7% of ConnectOne Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.7% of SB Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of ConnectOne Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of SB Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

ConnectOne Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. SB Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. ConnectOne Bancorp pays out 38.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SB Financial Group pays out 35.3% 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. ConnectOne Bancorp has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and SB Financial Group has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. SB Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ConnectOne Bancorp and SB Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ConnectOne Bancorp	$534.62 million	1.74	$73.79 million	$1.85	13.11
SB Financial Group	$81.37 million	1.58	$11.47 million	$1.70	11.61

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

Summary

ConnectOne Bancorp beats SB Financial Group on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking. It provides retirement accounts, consumers and cash management services for business clients, including treasury direct, automated clearing house, remote deposit capture, and digital invoicing. In addition, the company offers consumer and commercial business loans, including lines of credit, commercial and residential mortgages, home equity and bridge loans, and other personal loans; commercial loans secured by collateral, such as business assets comprising accounts receivable, inventory and equipment, and mortgages filed on commercial and residential real estate, as well as cash balances and marketable securities. Further, it provides real estate loans, which includes loans secured by first liens on completed commercial properties, including multi-family properties, to purchase or refinance properties; residential mortgages, such as loans secured by first liens on 1-4 family and condominium; and cooperative residential real estate loans. The company was formerly known as Center Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. in July 2014. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans. The company also provides automatic teller machine, personal and corporate trust, commercial leasing, bank credit card, safe deposit box rental, internet banking, private client group, and other personalized banking products and services; and various trust and financial services comprising asset management services for individuals and corporate employee benefit plans, as well as brokerage services. In addition, it sells insurance products to retail and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as Rurban Financial Corp. and changed its name to SB Financial Group, Inc. in April 2013. SB Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Defiance, Ohio.