Reviewing Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) & China CITIC Bank (OTCMKTS:CHCJY)

China CITIC Bank (OTCMKTS:CHCJY) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

China CITIC Bank has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Civista Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares China CITIC Bank and Civista Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
China CITIC Bank	20.81%	8.54%	0.72%
Civista Bancshares	20.79%	10.65%	1.35%

Dividends

China CITIC Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. China CITIC Bank pays out 25.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares pays out 26.7% 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. Civista Bancshares has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. China CITIC Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for China CITIC Bank and Civista Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
China CITIC Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00
Civista Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Civista Bancshares has a consensus target price of $30.25, suggesting a potential upside of 9.86%. Given Civista Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than China CITIC Bank.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares China CITIC Bank and Civista Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
China CITIC Bank	$49.07 billion	1.09	$9.82 billion	$3.45	6.32
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.25	$46.21 million	$2.70	10.20

China CITIC Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Civista Bancshares. China CITIC Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Civista Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats China CITIC Bank on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China CITIC Bank

China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited provides various banking products and services in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in segments, such as Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, and Financial Market business. It accepts deposits; offers corporate and personal loans; and provides securities agency, remittance and settlement, and guarantee services, as well as investment banking and international services. The company also engages in the capital markets operations and inter-bank operations, including inter-bank money market transactions, repurchase transactions, investments, and trading in debt instruments; and derivatives and forex trading. In addition, it offers asset management, finance leasing, wealth management, ageing finance, private banking, credit card, payroll, and other non-banking financial services. The company serves corporations, government agencies, and non-financial institutions; and individual customers and micro and small enterprises. The company operates tier-one branches, tier-two branches, and sub-branches; self-service banks; and self-service terminals, as well as smart teller machines. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited operates as a subsidiary of CITIC Financial Holdings Co., Ltd.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.