Comparing Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) & Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG)

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) and Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Chemung Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp Montana	$121.99 million	1.12	$9.78 million	$1.24	13.70
Chemung Financial	$150.79 million	1.64	$23.67 million	$4.96	10.45

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

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Chemung Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp Montana	8.02%	5.68%	0.46%
Chemung Financial	15.70%	11.47%	0.85%

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp Montana pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Eagle Bancorp Montana pays out 46.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemung Financial pays out 25.0% 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Eagle Bancorp Montana is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Chemung Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Eagle Bancorp Montana has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Eagle Bancorp Montana and Chemung Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp Montana	0	1	0	0	2.00
Chemung Financial	0	2	0	0	2.00

Eagle Bancorp Montana presently has a consensus target price of $13.50, suggesting a potential downside of 20.54%. Chemung Financial has a consensus target price of $58.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.91%. Given Chemung Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Chemung Financial is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp Montana.

Summary

Chemung Financial beats Eagle Bancorp Montana on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, such as residential mortgages and construction of residential properties; commercial real estate loans, including multi-family dwellings, nonresidential property, commercial construction and development, and farmland loans; and second mortgage/home equity loans. In addition, it offers consumer loans, such as loans secured by collateral other than real estate, such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, and boats; personal loans and lines of credit; commercial business loans consisting of business loans and lines of credit on a secured and unsecured basis; construction loans; agricultural loans; and mortgage loan services. The company operates full-service branches and automated teller machines. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Helena, Montana.

About Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts. It also offers commercial and agricultural loans comprising loans to small to mid-sized businesses; commercial and residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including home equity lines of credit and home equity term loans. In addition, the company provides interest rate swaps, letters of credit, employee benefit plans, insurance products, mutual fund, brokerage, and tax preparation services. Further, it offers guardian, custodian, trustee, investment, pension, estate planning, and employee benefit administrative services, as well as acts as an agent for pension, profit-sharing, and other employee benefit trusts. Chemung Financial Corporation was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in Elmira, New York.