Critical Contrast: Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) vs. Citizens Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CZWI)

Citizens Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CZWI) and Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Citizens Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Independent Bank has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Citizens Community Bancorp and Independent Bank”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Community Bancorp	$98.77 million	2.16	$14.42 million	$1.31	16.85
Independent Bank	$1.17 billion	3.39	$205.12 million	$5.54	15.14

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

Dividends

Citizens Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Independent Bank pays an annual dividend of $2.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Community Bancorp pays out 32.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Independent Bank pays out 46.2% 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 Community Bancorp has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Independent Bank has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Independent Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.1% of Citizens Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Independent Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Citizens Community Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Independent Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Community Bancorp and Independent Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Community Bancorp	12.94%	6.77%	0.72%
Independent Bank	20.31%	9.19%	1.31%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Citizens Community Bancorp and Independent Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Community Bancorp	0	4	1	0	2.20
Independent Bank	1	1	4	1	2.71

Citizens Community Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.48%. Independent Bank has a consensus target price of $91.86, indicating a potential upside of 9.48%. Given Independent Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Independent Bank is more favorable than Citizens Community Bancorp.

Summary

Independent Bank beats Citizens Community Bancorp on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Community Bancorp

Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Citizens Community Federal N.A. that provides various traditional community banking services to businesses, agricultural operators, and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, including demand deposits, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers various loan products, such as commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, agricultural real estate, agricultural operating, and consumer loans; and one-to-four family residential mortgages and home equity lines-of-credit. In addition, it maintains a portfolio of investments comprising mortgage-backed, corporate asset-backed, U.S. Government sponsored agency, and corporate debt securities. Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit. It offers commercial real estate and construction, commercial and industrial, small business, secured and unsecured commercial, and consumer real estate loans; term loans and revolving/nonrevolving lines of credit; overdraft protection and letters of credit; and residential mortgages and home equity loans and lines. In addition, the company provides cash management services, such as ACH transaction processing, positive pay, and remote deposit services; investment management and trust services to individuals, institutions, small businesses, and charitable institutions; mobile, online, and telephone banking; estate settlement, financial planning, tax services, and other services; automated teller machines; debit and credit cards; and mutual fund and unit investment trust shares, third party model portfolios, general securities, fixed and variable annuities, and life insurance products, as well as advisory platforms. Further, it invests in low-income housing tax credit projects; holds, maintains, and disposes foreclosed properties; and operates as an investment advisor. Independent Bank Corp. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Rockland, Massachusetts.