Head to Head Analysis: Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) vs. Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC)

Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) and Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Citizens & Northern has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Santander Chile has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Citizens & Northern and Banco Santander Chile”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens & Northern	$170.03 million	2.97	$23.43 million	$1.48	19.02
Banco Santander Chile	$2,954.73 billion	0.01	$1.12 billion	$2.62	12.10

Banco Santander Chile has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens & Northern. Banco Santander Chile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citizens & Northern, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Citizens & Northern pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Banco Santander Chile pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Citizens & Northern pays out 75.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Banco Santander Chile pays out 41.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.8% of Citizens & Northern shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.4% of Banco Santander Chile shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of Citizens & Northern shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens & Northern and Banco Santander Chile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens & Northern	13.28%	9.54%	1.04%
Banco Santander Chile	27.04%	22.94%	1.70%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Citizens & Northern and Banco Santander Chile, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens & Northern	0	2	1	0	2.33
Banco Santander Chile	1	4	3	1	2.44

Citizens & Northern currently has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential downside of 16.52%. Banco Santander Chile has a consensus target price of $35.20, indicating a potential upside of 11.06%. Given Banco Santander Chile’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Banco Santander Chile is more favorable than Citizens & Northern.

Summary

Banco Santander Chile beats Citizens & Northern on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corp. is a holding company, which engages in community banking. It provides a full range of banking and mortgage services to individual and corporate customers in North Central Pennsylvania and Southern New York State. The firm’s lending products include mortgage loans, commercial loans, and consumer loans. Its deposit products include various types of checking accounts, passbook and statement savings, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Wellsboro, PA.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services. It also provides mutual fund management, insurance and securities brokerage, foreign exchange services, financial leasing, financial consulting and advisory, investment management, foreign trade, leasing, factoring, treasury, and transactional services, as well as specialized services to finance residential projects. In addition, the company offers short-term financing and fundraising, and brokerage services, as well as derivatives, securitization, and other products; and manages capital allocations. It serves individuals, small to middle-sized entities, companies, and large corporations, as well as universities, government entities, and local and regional governments. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Banco Santander-Chile operates as a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.