Isabella Bank (NASDAQ:ISBA) versus Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Head to Head Comparison

Isabella Bank (NASDAQ:ISBA) and Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Dividends

Isabella Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Isabella Bank pays out 51.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity Bancshares pays out 17.9% 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.7% of Isabella Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Isabella Bank has a beta of 0.12, suggesting that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Isabella Bank and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Isabella Bank	15.18%	7.83%	0.80%
Equity Bancshares	19.99%	12.17%	1.33%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Isabella Bank and Equity Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Isabella Bank	$70.49 million	3.65	$13.89 million	$2.19	15.98
Equity Bancshares	$335.67 million	2.31	$62.62 million	$4.03	10.00

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Isabella Bank and Equity Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Isabella Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00
Equity Bancshares	0	0	0	1	4.00

Isabella Bank currently has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.86%. Given Isabella Bank’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Isabella Bank is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Isabella Bank on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Isabella Bank

Isabella Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Isabella Bank that provides various banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and individuals and their families. Its deposit products include checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, direct deposits, and money market accounts. The company’s loan portfolio comprises commercial, agricultural, and residential real estate loans, as well as consumer loans, including secured and unsecured personal loans. It also offers cash management, mobile and internet banking, electronic bill pay, automated teller machines, trust and investment, estate planning, and safe deposit box rental services; and group life, health, accident, disability, and other insurance products, as well as other employee benefit programs. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 30 banking offices in Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, and Saginaw counties. Isabella Bank Corporation was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate-backed, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products to national and regional companies, restaurant franchisees, hoteliers, real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, agribusiness companies, and other businesses. The company’s loan products also comprise various consumer loans to individuals and professionals, including residential real estate loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, installment loans, unsecured and secured personal lines of credit, overdraft protection, and letters of credit. It also provides debit cards; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. As of December 31, 2021, it operated a network of 69 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.