Head-To-Head Contrast: Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) versus Bank of the James Financial Group (NASDAQ:BOTJ)

Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) and Bank of the James Financial Group (NASDAQ:BOTJ) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Citizens Bancshares has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of the James Financial Group has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Bancshares and Bank of the James Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bank of the James Financial Group	11.72%	10.45%	0.71%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

18.5% of Bank of the James Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.2% of Citizens Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of Bank of the James Financial Group shares are owned by company 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

Citizens Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Bank of the James Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Bank of the James Financial Group pays out 22.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of the James Financial Group has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Citizens Bancshares and Bank of the James Financial Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Bancshares	$44.68 million	1.56	$12.88 million	N/A	N/A
Bank of the James Financial Group	$46.43 million	1.65	$7.94 million	$1.76	9.52

Citizens Bancshares has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bank of the James Financial Group.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Citizens Bancshares and Bank of the James Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bank of the James Financial Group	0	1	0	0	2.00

Summary

Bank of the James Financial Group beats Citizens Bancshares on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Bancshares

Citizens Bancshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers checking and savings accounts; and demand and money market deposits. Its loan products include commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; loans secured by personal property, such as automobiles, marketable securities, and other titled recreational vehicles and motorcycles, as well as unsecured consumer debt; commercial real estate loans; single-family residential loans; and construction and development loans. The company also offers investment accounts and certificate of deposit account registry services. In addition, it provides merchant services, which include point of sale terminal, credit and debit card processing, electronic benefits transfer, gift card, and Internet shopping cart services; cash management services; and credit cards. Further, the company offers online and mobile banking, as well as check reorder services. Citizens Bancshares Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Bank of the James Financial Group

Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the James that provides general retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, associations and organizations, and governmental authorities in Virginia, the United States. It offers checking, savings, individual retirement, and health care saving accounts, as well as other time deposits, including money market accounts and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loans to small- and medium-sized businesses for the purchases of equipment, facilities upgrades, inventory acquisition, and various working capital purposes; commercial and residential construction and development loans; commercial real estate mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; and secured and unsecured consumer loans, such as lines of credit and overdraft lines of credit, as well as personal, automobile, installment, demand, and home equity loans for personal, family, or household purposes. In addition, it offers other banking services, including safe deposit boxes, traveler's checks, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, automatic drafts for various accounts, treasury management, and credit card merchant services. Further, the company provides mortgage banking; investment advisory services; securities brokerage and investment services; and telephone and internet banking services comprising online bill pay, as well as acts as an agent for insurance and annuity products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia.