Comparing Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) & Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 55.5% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Civista Bancshares	0	2	2	0	2.50
Republic Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Civista Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $23.40, indicating a potential upside of 13.37%. Republic Bancorp has a consensus target price of $70.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.39%. Given Civista Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Republic Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Civista Bancshares	12.96%	8.35%	0.80%
Republic Bancorp	20.05%	10.60%	1.51%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Republic Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Civista Bancshares	$151.91 million	2.14	$31.68 million	$2.02	10.22
Republic Bancorp	$505.64 million	2.51	$101.37 million	$5.23	12.46

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

Dividends

Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Civista Bancshares pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Republic Bancorp pays out 31.2% 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. Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Civista Bancshares on 11 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 Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.