Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY – Get Free Report) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
30.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Citizens shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Oak Valley Bancorp and Citizens, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Oak Valley Bancorp | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Citizens | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
Volatility and Risk
Oak Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens has a beta of 0.09, indicating that its share price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Oak Valley Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Oak Valley Bancorp pays out 26.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens pays out 4.8% 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. Oak Valley Bancorp has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years and Citizens has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Oak Valley Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Citizens”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Oak Valley Bancorp | $95.04 million | 2.95 | $23.91 million | $2.82 | 11.83 |
| Citizens | $40.95 million | 1.22 | $5.49 million | $1.68 | 5.24 |
Oak Valley Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens. Citizens is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oak Valley Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Oak Valley Bancorp | 24.05% | 11.31% | 1.17% |
| Citizens | 7.00% | 11.28% | 0.37% |
Summary
Oak Valley Bancorp beats Citizens on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Oak Valley Bancorp
Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including automobile loans, home mortgages, credit lines, and other personal loans. In addition, the company provides online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, merchant, night depository, extended hours, wire transfer of funds, note collection services, and automated teller machines. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Oakdale, California.
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.
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