Comparing Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL)

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Civista Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	$6.76 billion	0.78	$344.37 million	$0.40	11.12
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.34	$46.21 million	$2.79	10.32

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has higher revenue and earnings than Civista Bancshares. Civista Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Civista Bancshares 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.

Dividends

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares pays out 25.8% 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. Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Civista Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	1	2	0	0	1.67
Civista Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.41%. Civista Bancshares has a consensus target price of $30.25, suggesting a potential upside of 5.07%. Given Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores is more favorable than Civista Bancshares.

Profitability

This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Civista Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	5.08%	6.06%	0.60%
Civista Bancshares	21.82%	10.98%	1.41%

Risk and Volatility

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores is a Colombian financial holding company with businesses in banking, asset management, investment banking and infrastructure. Its financial services include commercial and consumer banking, pension and severance fund management, and services for businesses and institutional clients. In Colombia, the group’s banking interests include Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular and Banco AV Villas. It also has a presence in Central America through BAC, which provides banking and other financial services in the region.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company and the parent of Civista Bank, a community bank headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. The bank provides personal and business banking services, including deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, and mortgage services. Civista Bank also offers services such as treasury management and wealth management. Its banking network serves customers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The bank traces its history to Citizens Banking Company, established in Ohio in 1884.