Reviewing Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) and Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN)

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) and Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Dividends

Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Colony Bankcorp pays out 29.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays out 66.0% 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. Colony Bankcorp has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Atlantic Union Bankshares has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Atlantic Union Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Colony Bankcorp and Atlantic Union Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colony Bankcorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Atlantic Union Bankshares	1	1	5	1	2.75

Colony Bankcorp presently has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.17%. Atlantic Union Bankshares has a consensus target price of $41.50, suggesting a potential upside of 16.23%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than Atlantic Union Bankshares.

Risk and Volatility

Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlantic Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Atlantic Union Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colony Bankcorp	13.51%	9.64%	0.85%
Atlantic Union Bankshares	15.53%	8.50%	1.06%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Atlantic Union Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colony Bankcorp	$121.88 million	2.40	$23.87 million	$1.58	10.62
Atlantic Union Bankshares	$1.05 billion	4.84	$209.13 million	$2.06	17.33

Atlantic Union Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Colony Bankcorp. Colony Bankcorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atlantic Union Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Atlantic Union Bankshares beats Colony Bankcorp on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, and remote depository products, as well as access to a network of ATMs. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes, as well as debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides treasury management and capital market, wealth management, private banking, trust, financial and retirement planning, brokerage, investment management, equipment finance, mortgage banking, and insurance products and services. The company offers products and services through full-service branches and ATMs, as well as through its mobile and internet banking. The company was formerly known as Union Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in May 2019. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.