Comparing Surrey Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SRYB) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK)

Surrey Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SRYB) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Surrey Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Surrey Bancorp pays out 31.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. Surrey Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Surrey Bancorp and Equity Bancshares’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Surrey Bancorp	$16.20 million	4.23	$5.10 million	$1.52	10.99
Equity Bancshares	$227.58 million	2.79	$7.82 million	$0.60	69.30

Equity Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Surrey Bancorp. Surrey Bancorp 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 Surrey Bancorp and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Surrey Bancorp	37.97%	N/A	N/A
Equity Bancshares	3.75%	12.57%	1.10%

Risk & Volatility

Surrey Bancorp has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.7% of Surrey Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 33.7% of Surrey Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Surrey Bancorp and Equity Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Surrey Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Equity Bancshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

Equity Bancshares has a consensus target price of $39.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.20%. Given Equity Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Equity Bancshares is more favorable than Surrey Bancorp.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Surrey Bancorp on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Surrey Bancorp

Surrey BanCorp engages in the provision of banking solutions through its subsidiaries, Surrey Bank & Trust . It offers checking accounts, savings, deposit services, mortgages, real estate loans, commercial credit products, business checking, and electronic banking. The company was founded on May 1, 2003 and is headquartered in Mount Airy, NC.

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.