Comparing TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) & Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS)

Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS) and TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Citizens Financial Services has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Financial Services and TrustCo Bank Corp NY’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Financial Services	22.47%	11.89%	1.30%
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	22.42%	9.21%	0.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Citizens Financial Services and TrustCo Bank Corp NY, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Services	0	2	0	1	2.67
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	1	0	3.00

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Citizens Financial Services and TrustCo Bank Corp NY”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Financial Services	$115.72 million	2.70	$36.57 million	$8.19	7.94
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$278.36 million	3.31	$61.14 million	$3.41	15.47

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

Dividends

Citizens Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Services pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 44.6% 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. Citizens Financial Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

About Citizens Financial Services

Citizens Financial Services, Inc., a bank holding company, provides various banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, and time deposit accounts. Its loan products include residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; state and political subdivision loans; and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. The company also provides professional trust administration, investment management services, estate planning and administration, custody of securities, and individual retirement accounts. In addition, it offers brokerage and financial planning services, as well as assistance in various oil and gas leasing matters; and provides mutual funds, annuities, and health and life insurance products. Citizens Financial Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.

About TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY operates as the holding company for Trustco Bank, a federal savings bank that provides personal and business banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts deposits; and offers loans and investments. It also operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, holds, and manages real estate mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company serves as the executor of estates and trustee of personal trusts; provides asset and wealth management, estate planning and related advice, and custodial services; and acts as trustee for various types of employee benefit plans, and corporate pension and profit-sharing trusts. It operates through banking offices in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester counties of New York; Brevard, Charlotte, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida; Bennington County in Vermont; Berkshire County in Massachusetts; and Bergen County in New Jersey, as well as automatic teller machines. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glenville, New York.