Prime Meridian (OTCMKTS:PMHG) versus City (NASDAQ:CHCO) Critical Comparison

City (NASDAQ:CHCO) and Prime Meridian (OTCMKTS:PMHG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for City and Prime Meridian, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
City	0	5	1	0	2.17
Prime Meridian	0	0	0	0	0.00

City presently has a consensus price target of $134.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.99%. Given City’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe City is more favorable than Prime Meridian.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.4% of City shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.8% of Prime Meridian shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of City shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.9% of Prime Meridian shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares City and Prime Meridian”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
City	$305.18 million	5.55	$130.49 million	$8.94	13.20
Prime Meridian	$50.36 million	3.92	$8.49 million	$2.48	23.39

City has higher revenue and earnings than Prime Meridian. City is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Prime Meridian, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

City pays an annual dividend of $3.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Prime Meridian pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. City pays out 38.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prime Meridian pays out 40.3% 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. City has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. City is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

City has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prime Meridian has a beta of 0.06, indicating that its stock price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares City and Prime Meridian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
City	32.56%	16.61%	1.95%
Prime Meridian	15.49%	9.13%	0.87%

Summary

City beats Prime Meridian on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About City

City Holding Company operates as a holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia that provides various banking, trust, and investment management, and other financial solutions in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also provides commercial and industrial loans that consist of loans to corporate and other legal entity borrowers primarily in small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies; commercial real estate loans comprising commercial mortgages, which are secured by nonresidential and multi-family residential properties; residential real estate loans to consumers for the purchase or refinance of residence; first-priority home equity loans; home equity lines of credit; amortized home equity loans; consumer loans that are secured and unsecured by automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, certificates of deposit, and other personal property; and demand deposit account overdrafts, as well as owner-occupied real estate and construction, land development, and lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mortgage banking services, including fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages, construction financing, land loans, production of conventional and government-insured mortgages, secondary marketing, and mortgage servicing. Further, it provides deposit services for commercial customers comprising treasury management, lockbox, and other cash management services; merchant credit card services; wealth management, trust, investment, and custodial services for commercial and individual customers; and corporate trust and institutional custody, financial and estate planning, and retirement plan services, as well as automated-teller-machine, interactive-teller-machine, mobile banking, interactive voice response systems, and credit and debit card services. City Holding Company was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.

About Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for Prime Meridian Bank that provides various consumer and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market, savings, term certificate of deposit, demand interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing, health savings, NOW, and escrow accounts, as well as retirement savings plans and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial real estate, residential real estate and home equity, small business administration, construction, equipment, and commercial loans; and consumer and other loans comprising financing of automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles, as well as issues standby letters and business lines of credit. The company also offers debit and credit cards; mobile banking, remote and mobile deposit, Apple Pay, bank-to-bank transfer, and online banking services; and safe deposit, wire transfer, foreign exchange, direct deposits, notary, night depository, official checks, domestic collections, bank drafts, automated teller services, drive-in tellers, merchant card, and banking by mail services, as well as invests in securities. Prime Meridian Holding Company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida.