Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR – Get Free Report) and CVB Financial (NASDAQ:CVBF – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
50.2% of Investar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.2% of CVB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.6% of Investar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of CVB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Investar and CVB Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Investar | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| CVB Financial | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
Investar currently has a consensus target price of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.23%. CVB Financial has a consensus target price of $26.25, indicating a potential upside of 14.58%. Given CVB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CVB Financial is more favorable than Investar.
Dividends
Investar pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. CVB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Investar pays out 18.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CVB Financial pays out 53.0% 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. Investar has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years.
Risk and Volatility
Investar has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CVB Financial has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Investar and CVB Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Investar | $153.48 million | 2.50 | $22.90 million | $2.63 | 10.58 |
| CVB Financial | $648.47 million | 6.22 | $209.30 million | $1.51 | 15.17 |
CVB Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Investar. Investar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CVB Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Investar and CVB Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Investar | 18.81% | 12.62% | 1.25% |
| CVB Financial | 29.54% | 9.42% | 1.41% |
Summary
CVB Financial beats Investar on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Investar
Investar Holding Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Investar Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in south Louisiana, southeast Texas, and Alabama in the United States. The company offers various deposit products and services, such as savings, checking, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as various certificates of deposit; debit and credit cards; internet, mobile, and video banking services; and reciprocal deposit products. It also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans, including working capital lines of credit and equipment loans; loans for the construction of commercial projects, and single family residential and multifamily properties; one-to-four family residential real estate loans, such as second mortgage loans; and consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured installment and term loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and auto loans, as well as loans for personal, family, and household purposes. In addition, the company offers treasury management products, including remote deposit capture, lockbox payment processing, virtual vault, positive pay, ACH origination, wire transfer, investment sweep accounts, and business internet banking services. Further, it provides various other banking services, such as cashiers' checks, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, night depository, bank-by-mail, automated teller machines, electronic statements, interactive teller machines, online account opening, and mobile wallet payment services. Investar Holding Corporation was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
About CVB Financial
CVB Financial Corp. operates as a bank holding company for Citizens Business Bank, a state-chartered bank that provides banking and financial services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. It offers checking, savings, money market, and time certificates of deposit products for business and personal accounts; and serves as a federal tax depository for business customers. The company also provides commercial lending products comprising lines of credit and other working capital financing, accounts receivable lending, and letters of credit; agriculture loans to finance the operating needs of wholesale dairy farm operations, cattle feeders, livestock raisers, and farmers; lease financing services for municipal governments; commercial real estate and construction loans; and consumer financing products, including automobile leasing and financing, lines of credit, credit cards, home mortgages, and home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, it offers various specialized services, such as treasury management systems for monitoring cash flow, merchant card processing program, armored pick-up and delivery, payroll services, remote deposit capture, electronic funds transfers, wires and automated clearinghouse, and online account access. Further, the company provides trust services, such as fiduciary services, mutual funds, annuities, 401(k) plans, and individual investment accounts. CVB Financial Corp. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Ontario, California.
Receive News & Ratings for Investar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Investar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
