Financial Contrast: Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) versus Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS)

Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) and Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chemung Financial and Citizens Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemung Financial	$140.78 million	2.52	$15.10 million	$3.79	19.45
Citizens Bancshares	$44.60 million	2.15	$10.59 million	N/A	N/A

Chemung Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Bancshares.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 12.7% of Chemung Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Citizens Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Chemung Financial and Citizens Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemung Financial	0	2	1	0	2.33
Citizens Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Chemung Financial presently has a consensus target price of $64.00, indicating a potential downside of 13.19%. Given Chemung Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Chemung Financial is more favorable than Citizens Bancshares.

Dividends

Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Citizens Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Chemung Financial pays out 35.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemung Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Chemung Financial and Citizens Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemung Financial	12.77%	12.45%	1.13%
Citizens Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Bancshares has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Chemung Financial beats Citizens Bancshares on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.