Head to Head Analysis: Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) versus Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN)

Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Colony Bankcorp pays out 28.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity Bancshares pays out 60.0% 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. Colony Bankcorp has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and Equity Bancshares has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Colony Bankcorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Colony Bankcorp and Equity Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colony Bankcorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Equity Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Colony Bankcorp presently has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.39%. Equity Bancshares has a consensus price target of $51.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.70%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Equity Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colony Bankcorp	$126.05 million	2.58	$23.87 million	$1.59	11.75
Equity Bancshares	$192.21 million	4.70	$62.62 million	$1.20	39.46

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colony Bankcorp	13.51%	9.64%	0.85%
Equity Bancshares	18.66%	14.64%	1.31%

Volatility and Risk

Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Colony Bankcorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, and remote depository products, as well as access to a network of ATMs. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.