Head-To-Head Survey: John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) and Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS)

Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) and John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Citizens Bancshares and John Marshall Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Bancshares	$44.68 million	1.63	$12.88 million	N/A	N/A
John Marshall Bancorp	$60.64 million	4.48	$17.12 million	$1.41	13.55

John Marshall Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Bancshares.

Dividends

Citizens Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. John Marshall Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. John Marshall Bancorp pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Bancshares and John Marshall Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
John Marshall Bancorp	17.62%	8.00%	0.89%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 10.2% of Citizens Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Citizens Bancshares has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Marshall Bancorp has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Citizens Bancshares and John Marshall Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
John Marshall Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

John Marshall Bancorp has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.18%. Given John Marshall Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe John Marshall Bancorp is more favorable than Citizens Bancshares.

Summary

John Marshall Bancorp beats Citizens Bancshares on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Bancshares

Citizens Bancshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers checking and savings accounts; and demand and money market deposits. Its loan products include commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; loans secured by personal property, such as automobiles, marketable securities, and other titled recreational vehicles and motorcycles, as well as unsecured consumer debt; commercial real estate loans; single-family residential loans; and construction and development loans. The company also offers investment accounts and certificate of deposit account registry services. In addition, it provides merchant services, which include point of sale terminal, credit and debit card processing, electronic benefits transfer, gift card, and Internet shopping cart services; cash management services; and credit cards. Further, the company offers online and mobile banking, as well as check reorder services. Citizens Bancshares Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About John Marshall Bancorp

John Marshall Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for John Marshall Bank that provides banking products and financial services. The company accepts checking, demand, NOW, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers residential and commercial construction and development loans, commercial term, mortgage, commercial real estate, industrial loans, and other commercial lines of credit; debit and credit cards; and treasury and cash management, investment, business and personal insurance, remote deposit capture, deposit sweep and online and mobile banking services. The company serves small to medium-sized businesses, their owners and employees, professional corporations, non-profits, and individuals. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.