Comparing Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY)

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.20	$46.21 million	$2.70	9.98
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	$21.75 billion	1.37	$2.42 billion	$0.71	10.59

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

Dividends

Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Civista Bancshares pays out 26.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays out 81.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Civista Bancshares and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Civista Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	4	1	0	0	1.20

Civista Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $30.25, suggesting a potential upside of 12.29%. Given Civista Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ.

Volatility & Risk

Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% 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 insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Civista Bancshares	20.79%	10.65%	1.35%
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	17.75%	14.30%	0.72%

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ

Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) provides various banking products and services for private and corporate customers primarily in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, the United States, Luxembourg, Finland, and Poland. The company offers savings, transactions, business, currency, and investment accounts, as well as accounts for cash pool, and forestry and agriculture; mortgage and committed loans, and private loans; mutual funds; pension products; credit and debit cards; and payment and reconciliation services, as well as foreign exchange rate services. It also provides financing for investments, such as equipment, cars, computers, and other inventories, as well as vehicle and real estate financing services; green loans and advisor services; investment and other financing services; medical care, and group and health insurance products; forestry and farming banking products; and online and mobile banking services, as well as various banking services for children and young people. In addition, the company offers financial services, that includes asset management, transactional banking, corporate finance, financing, markets, trade finance, market information and research services to large corporations; cash management solutions; and various corporate banking services to small and medium-sized companies and large corporates, as well as private banking services. Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) was incorporated in 1871 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.