Comparing Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB)

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) and Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Civista Bancshares pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sierra Bancorp pays out 38.0% 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. Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Civista Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Sierra Bancorp’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Civista Bancshares	$219.90 million	1.06	$42.96 million	$2.33	6.37
Sierra Bancorp	$193.52 million	1.68	$34.84 million	$2.42	9.19

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

Volatility & Risk

Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Civista Bancshares and Sierra Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Civista Bancshares	0	3	1	0	2.25
Sierra Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00

Civista Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $17.75, indicating a potential upside of 19.53%. Sierra Bancorp has a consensus target price of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.42%. Given Civista Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Sierra Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Civista Bancshares	16.38%	10.23%	0.97%
Sierra Bancorp	17.80%	10.89%	0.96%

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats Sierra Bancorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts. The company's loan products include agricultural, commercial, consumer, real estate, construction, and mortgage loans. It also offers automated teller machines; electronic point-of-sale payment alternatives; online and automated telephone banking services; and remote deposit capture and automated payroll services for business customers. Sierra Bancorp was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Porterville, California.