Head-To-Head Analysis: Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) vs. Eagle Financial Services (OTCMKTS:EFSI)

Eagle Financial Services (OTCMKTS:EFSI) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Financial Services and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Financial Services	13.59%	10.92%	0.67%
Citizens	7.00%	11.28%	0.37%

Dividends

Eagle Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Eagle Financial Services pays out 55.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens pays out 6.1% 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. Citizens has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Eagle Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Citizens shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Eagle Financial Services has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens has a beta of -0.01, suggesting that its stock price is 101% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eagle Financial Services and Citizens”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Financial Services	$59.17 million	3.23	$15.34 million	$2.23	15.93
Citizens	$40.95 million	0.91	$5.49 million	$1.31	5.01

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Eagle Financial Services and Citizens, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Financial Services	0	0	0	0	0.00
Citizens	0	0	1	0	3.00

Citizens has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 250.61%. Given Citizens’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Citizens is more favorable than Eagle Financial Services.

Summary

Eagle Financial Services beats Citizens on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Financial Services

Eagle Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Clarke that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia and Frederick, Maryland. It operates through three segments: Community Banking, Marine Lending, and Wealth Management. The company's deposit products include checking, NOW, money market, and regular savings accounts; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises one-to-four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction and land development, and commercial and industrial loans, as well as secured and unsecured consumer loans, which include personal installment loans, personal lines of credit, automobile loans, and credit card loans. The company also offers fiduciary services; advisory services and investment products, including individual retirement accounts, mutual funds, tax-deferred annuities, 529 college savings plans, life insurance, long term care insurance, brokerage certificates of deposit, and other brokerage services; non-deposit investment products; and title insurance products. In addition, it provides ATM and debit cards; online bill payment services; wealth management services; and telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, as well as other commercial deposit account services, such as ACH origination and remote deposit capture services. The company operates through full-service branches, loan production offices, drive-through only facility, and ATM locations in the Virginia communities of Berryville, Winchester, Boyce, Stephens City, Purcellville, Warrenton, Leesburg, Ashburn, and Fairfax, as well as Maryland community of Frederick. Eagle Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Berryville, Virginia.

About Citizens

Citizens Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia that provides various commercial and personal banking products and services. It offers demand deposits; and savings and time deposit accounts. The company also provides secured and unsecured loans; mortgage loans; single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans; commercial, industrial, and agricultural production loans; and consumer loans, as well as issues letters of credit. In addition, it offers personal and corporate trust services; credit life and title insurance; and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.