Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) & Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) Head to Head Contrast

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) and Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Citizens Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Citizens Financial Services’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Bancshares	$227.58 million	2.23	$7.82 million	$0.60	55.35
Citizens Financial Services	$138.72 million	1.39	$17.81 million	$3.69	11.13

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	3.88%	12.08%	1.04%
Citizens Financial Services	11.63%	10.43%	0.97%

Volatility and Risk

Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Financial Services has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Equity Bancshares and Citizens Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0	2	1	0	2.33
Citizens Financial Services	0	0	1	0	3.00

Equity Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $33.33, suggesting a potential upside of 0.37%. Citizens Financial Services has a consensus target price of $53.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.08%. Given Citizens Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Citizens Financial Services is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Dividends

Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Citizens Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Equity Bancshares pays out 80.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Citizens Financial Services pays out 53.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens Financial Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Citizens Financial Services on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

About Citizens Financial Services

Citizens Financial Services, Inc., a bank holding company, provides various banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, and time deposit accounts. Its loan products include residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; state and political subdivision loans; and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. The company also provides professional trust administration, investment management services, estate planning and administration, custody of securities, and individual retirement accounts. In addition, it offers brokerage and financial planning services, as well as assistance in various oil and gas leasing matters; and provides mutual funds, annuities, and health and life insurance products. Citizens Financial Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.