Analyzing BV Financial (NASDAQ:BVFL) and Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG)

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) and BV Financial (NASDAQ:BVFL) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.9% of Citizens Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.7% of BV Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Citizens Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.7% of BV Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Citizens Financial Group and BV Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Group	0	1	19	0	2.95
BV Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00

Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus price target of $70.86, suggesting a potential upside of 8.56%. Given Citizens Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Citizens Financial Group is more favorable than BV Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Citizens Financial Group and BV Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Financial Group	$12.06 billion	2.30	$1.83 billion	$4.23	15.43
BV Financial	$52.43 million	3.30	$13.49 million	$1.47	13.46

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

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Financial Group and BV Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Financial Group	16.21%	8.31%	0.88%
BV Financial	25.74%	8.66%	1.83%

Volatility & Risk

Citizens Financial Group has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BV Financial has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Citizens Financial Group beats BV Financial on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending products, credit cards, business loans, wealth management, and investment services; and auto, education, and point-of-sale finance loans, as well as digital deposit products. This segment serves its customers through telephone service centers, as well as through its online and mobile platforms. The Commercial Banking segment provides various financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as syndicated loans, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets services. This segment serves corporate banking, healthcare, technology, asset finance, franchise finance, leasing, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, mid-corporate, and private equity sponsor industries. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

About BV Financial

BV Financial, Inc. operates as the holding company for BayVanguard Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and businesses in Maryland. The company offers checking and money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposits. Its loan products include real estate, home equity, construction, lot, auto, boat, and other personal loans; and commercial lending products, such as commercial equipment/installation, commercial real estate, construction, investment real estate, lines of credit, and SBA loans, as well as loans for short-term real estate purchase, renovation, and sale projects. The company offers ATM, overdraft, safe deposit, bill pay, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, merchant, and online banking services. BV Financial, Inc. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.