Head-To-Head Review: Blue Ridge Bankshares (NASDAQ:BRBS) and Isabella Bank (OTCMKTS:ISBA)

Isabella Bank (OTCMKTS:ISBA) and Blue Ridge Bankshares (NASDAQ:BRBS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Isabella Bank has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blue Ridge Bankshares has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Isabella Bank and Blue Ridge Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Isabella Bank	13.28%	7.34%	0.73%
Blue Ridge Bankshares	-8.84%	-5.48%	-0.52%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Isabella Bank and Blue Ridge Bankshares”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	3.75	$13.89 million	$2.19	16.38
Blue Ridge Bankshares	$88.89 million	4.52	-$15.39 million	$0.03	145.33

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.5% of Blue Ridge Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.7% of Isabella Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Blue Ridge Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Isabella Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Blue Ridge Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. Isabella Bank pays out 51.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Blue Ridge Bankshares pays out 1,633.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Blue Ridge Bankshares has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Blue Ridge 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 price targets for Isabella Bank and Blue Ridge Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Isabella Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00
Blue Ridge Bankshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Isabella Bank currently has a consensus target price of $34.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.24%. Given Isabella Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Isabella Bank is more favorable than Blue Ridge Bankshares.

Summary

Isabella Bank beats Blue Ridge Bankshares on 10 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 insurance products. The company operated 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 Blue Ridge Bankshares

Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Blue Ridge Bank, National Association that provides commercial and consumer banking, and financial services. It operates through: Commercial Banking and Mortgage Banking segments. The company accepts checking, savings, money market, cash management, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, home equity, consumer installment, and guaranteed government loans; and residential mortgage loans and mortgages loans on real estate. In addition, it provides wire, direct deposit payroll, remote deposit, electronic statement, and other services; and property and casualty insurance products to individuals and businesses, as well as online, mobile, and telephone banking services. Further, the company offers employee benefit plans and administration services; management services for personal and corporate trusts, including estate planning and settlement, and trust administration, investment and wealth management services. It operates in Callao, Charlottesville, Chester, Colonial Heights, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Gordonsville, Harrisonburg, Hartfield, Henrico, Kilmarnock, Louisa, Luray, Martinsville, Midlothian, Mineral, Montross, Orange, Petersburg, Richmond, Shenandoah, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Warsaw, and White Stone, Virginia; and Greensboro, North Carolina. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia.