Comparing Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) & Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG)

Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) and Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Mizuho Financial Group has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oak Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mizuho Financial Group and Oak Valley Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mizuho Financial Group	$60.35 billion	2.26	$7.64 billion	$0.82	13.48
Oak Valley Bancorp	$95.04 million	3.02	$23.91 million	$2.82	12.12

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Mizuho Financial Group and Oak Valley Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mizuho Financial Group	0	0	0	1	4.00
Oak Valley Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

This table compares Mizuho Financial Group and Oak Valley Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mizuho Financial Group	17.15%	12.82%	0.49%
Oak Valley Bancorp	24.05%	11.31%	1.17%

Dividends

Mizuho Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Oak Valley Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Mizuho Financial Group pays out 17.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Oak Valley Bancorp pays out 26.6% 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. Oak Valley Bancorp has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Oak Valley Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

3.3% of Mizuho Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Mizuho Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Oak Valley Bancorp beats Mizuho Financial Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mizuho Financial Group

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in banking, trust, securities, and other businesses related to financial services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia/Oceania, and internationally. It operates through Retail & Business Banking Company, Corporate & Institutional Company, Global Corporate Company, Global Markets Company, Asset Management Company, and Others segments. The company provides deposit products; syndicated, housing, and card loans; business matching services; and advisory services related to overseas expansions, and mergers and acquisitions-related services. It also offers consulting services, including asset management and asset succession; payroll services; and sells lottery tickets issued by prefectures and ordinance-designated cities. In addition, it offers fund management, underwriting of equity and bonds, risk hedging products, etc. for corporate customers; solutions based on capital management, business strategy, and financial strategy; real estate services; advisory services and solutions, such as advice on proposals on various investment products to financial institutions; and financial services that include funding support and public bonds underwriting. Further, the company offers corporate finance and transaction banking srvices; sales and trading services; investment products; pension funds; and ALM and investment services, including stable capital raising and balance sheet management, as well as management of fixed income, equity, and other securities portfolios. Additionally, the company provides online banking, cash management solutions, currency transaction, trade finance, custody, yen correspondence settlement, and research and consulting services; trust, securitization and structured finance, and stock transfers; and private banking and information technology-related services. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Oak Valley Bancorp

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including automobile loans, home mortgages, credit lines, and other personal loans. In addition, the company provides online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, merchant, night depository, extended hours, wire transfer of funds, note collection services, and automated teller machines. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Oakdale, California.