Comparing Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) & First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Dividends

Citizens & Northern pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Citizens & Northern pays out 73.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 48.5% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Citizens & Northern and First Busey”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens & Northern	$102.67 million	2.92	$24.15 million	$1.52	12.83
First Busey	$444.45 million	3.44	$122.57 million	$1.98	13.60

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

30.8% of Citizens & Northern shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Citizens & Northern shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Citizens & Northern and First Busey, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens & Northern	0	0	0	0	N/A
First Busey	0	1	4	0	2.80

First Busey has a consensus target price of $28.60, indicating a potential upside of 6.24%. Given First Busey’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than Citizens & Northern.

Risk and Volatility

Citizens & Northern has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens & Northern and First Busey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens & Northern	15.75%	9.06%	0.92%
First Busey	17.18%	9.10%	0.96%

Summary

First Busey beats Citizens & Northern on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Citizens & Northern Bank that provides various banking and related services to individual and corporate customers. Its deposit products include various types of checking accounts, passbook and statement savings, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and lending products, including commercial, mortgage, and consumer loans, as well as specialized instruments, such as commercial letters-of-credit. The company also offers wealth management services comprising 401(k) plans, retirement planning, estate planning, estate settlements, and asset management; personal and commercial insurance products; and mutual funds, annuities, educational savings accounts, and other investment products through registered agents; and reinsures credit and mortgage, life and accident, and health insurance products. Citizens & Northern Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech. The Banking segment provides banking services to individual customers, such as demand and savings deposits, money transfers, safe deposit services, individual retirement accounts and other fiduciary services, automated teller machines, and technology-based networks, as well as loan products, including residential real estate, home equity lines of credit, and consumer loans. This segment also offers banking services to corporate customers, including commercial, commercial real estate, real estate construction, and agricultural loans, as well as cash management services. The Wealth Management segment offers a range of investment and asset management, investment, brokerage, investment strategy consulting, fiduciary, philanthropic advisory, tax preparation, business succession planning, and employee retirement plan services to individuals, businesses, and foundations; and professional farm management services to the agricultural industry. The FirsTech segment provides payment technology solutions comprising online, mobile, and voice-recognition bill payments; money management and credit card networks; direct debit services; lockbox remittance processing for payments made by mail; and walk-in payments, as well as tools to help clients with billing, reconciliation, bill reminders, and treasury services. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.