Critical Analysis: CB Financial Services (NASDAQ:CBFV) vs. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF)

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and CB Financial Services (NASDAQ:CBFV) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CB Financial Services has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and CB Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	14.95%	5.91%	0.85%
CB Financial Services	15.43%	7.45%	0.70%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.1% of CB Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of CB Financial Services shares are owned by 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 ratings for Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and CB Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	0	3	2	0	2.40
CB Financial Services	0	2	0	0	2.00

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida presently has a consensus target price of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 0.58%. CB Financial Services has a consensus target price of $26.00, indicating a potential downside of 13.88%. Given Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida is more favorable than CB Financial Services.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and CB Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	$808.99 million	3.09	$120.99 million	$1.43	20.44
CB Financial Services	$49.53 million	3.12	$12.59 million	$2.39	12.63

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has higher revenue and earnings than CB Financial Services. CB Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. CB Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CB Financial Services pays out 41.8% 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. CB Financial Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida beats CB Financial Services on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Stuart, FL.

About CB Financial Services

CB Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The company's primary deposit products include demand deposits, NOW accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, as well as time deposit products. Its loan products comprise residential real estate loans, such as one- to four-family mortgage loans, home equity installment loans, and home equity lines of credit; commercial real estate loans that are secured primarily by improved properties, such as retail facilities, office buildings, and other non-residential buildings; construction loans to individuals to finance the construction of residential dwellings, as well as for the construction of commercial properties, including hotels, apartment buildings, housing developments, and owner-occupied properties used for businesses; commercial and industrial loans, and lines of credit; consumer loans consisting of indirect auto loans, secured and unsecured loans, and lines of credit; and other loans. In addition, the company conducts insurance agency activities by offering property and casualty, commercial liability, surety, and other insurance products. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.