Head-To-Head Contrast: Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) & Eagle Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSI)

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) and Eagle Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Regions Financial and Eagle Financial Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regions Financial	$9.61 billion	2.66	$2.16 billion	$2.40	12.47
Eagle Financial Services	$82.37 million	2.74	$8.21 million	$3.52	11.83

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

Dividends

Regions Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Eagle Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Regions Financial pays out 44.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Financial Services pays out 35.2% 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. Regions Financial has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Eagle Financial Services has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Regions Financial and Eagle Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regions Financial	23.13%	12.70%	1.40%
Eagle Financial Services	15.81%	10.17%	0.98%

Volatility & Risk

Regions Financial has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Eagle Financial Services has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

79.4% of Regions Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Regions Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Regions Financial and Eagle Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regions Financial	3	8	7	0	2.22
Eagle Financial Services	1	1	2	1	2.60

Regions Financial presently has a consensus price target of $30.73, suggesting a potential upside of 2.68%. Eagle Financial Services has a consensus price target of $42.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.49%. Given Regions Financial’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Regions Financial is more favorable than Eagle Financial Services.

Summary

Regions Financial beats Eagle Financial Services on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services. It serves corporate, middle market, and commercial real estate developers and investors. The Consumer Bank segment provides consumer banking products and services related to residential first mortgages, home equity lines and loans, consumer credit cards, and other consumer loans, as well as deposits. The Wealth Management segment offers credit related products, and retirement and savings solutions; and trust and investment management, asset management, and estate planning services to individuals, businesses, governmental institutions, and non-profit entities. It also provides investment and insurance products; low-income housing tax credit corporate fund syndication services; and other specialty financing services. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

About Eagle Financial Services

Eagle Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Clarke County that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Virginia. The company’s deposit products include checking, NOW, money market, and regular savings accounts; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises one-to-four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction and land development, and commercial and industrial loans, as well as secured and unsecured consumer loans, which include personal installment loans, personal lines of credit, automobile loans, and credit card loans. The company also offers personal and retirement plan services; investment services comprising tax-deferred annuities, IRAs and rollovers, mutual funds, retirement plans, college savings plans, life insurance, long term care insurance, fixed income investing, brokerage CDs, and full service or discount brokerage services; non-deposit investment products; and title insurance products. In addition, it provides ATM and debit cards; and telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, as well as other commercial deposit account services, such as ACH origination and remote deposit capture services. The company operates through twelve full-service branches, two loan production offices, one wealth management office, and one drive-through only facility, as well as 13 ATM locations in the Virginia communities of Berryville, Winchester, Boyce, Stephens City, Purcellville, Warrenton, Leesburg, Ashburn, and Fairfax. Eagle Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Berryville, Virginia.