Critical Survey: Citizens Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CZWI) and Pathfinder Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBHC)

Pathfinder Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBHC) and Citizens Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CZWI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.7% of Pathfinder Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.1% of Citizens Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 15.4% of Pathfinder Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Citizens Community Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Pathfinder Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Citizens Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Pathfinder Bancorp pays out -63.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens Community Bancorp pays out 27.5% 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. Pathfinder Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Citizens Community Bancorp has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Pathfinder Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Pathfinder Bancorp and Citizens Community Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pathfinder Bancorp	1	0	0	0	1.00
Citizens Community Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pathfinder Bancorp and Citizens Community Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pathfinder Bancorp	$79.15 million	0.84	-$1.93 million	($0.63)	-21.52
Citizens Community Bancorp	$98.77 million	2.09	$14.42 million	$1.53	13.99

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

Volatility and Risk

Pathfinder Bancorp has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pathfinder Bancorp and Citizens Community Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pathfinder Bancorp	-4.96%	-3.20%	-0.27%
Citizens Community Bancorp	15.02%	8.05%	0.86%

Summary

Citizens Community Bancorp beats Pathfinder Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pathfinder Bancorp

Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Pathfinder Bank that provides various banking and financial products and services in New York. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate, commercial, residential real estate, construction, and tax-exempt loans; home equity loans and junior liens; and consumer loans comprising automobile, recreational vehicles, and unsecured personal loans, as well as unsecured lines of credit and loans secured by deposit accounts. The company is also involved in the property, casualty, and life insurance brokerage business. It primarily serves individuals, families, small to mid-size businesses, and municipalities. The company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Oswego, New York.

About Citizens Community Bancorp

Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Citizens Community Federal N.A. that provides various traditional community banking services to businesses, agricultural operators, and consumers. It accepts various deposit products, including demand deposits, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers various loan products, such as commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, agricultural real estate, agricultural operating, and consumer loans; and one-to-four family residential mortgages and home equity lines-of-credit. In addition, it maintains a portfolio of investments comprising mortgage-backed, corporate asset-backed, U.S. Government sponsored agency, and corporate debt securities. Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.