First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) versus Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) Financial Contrast

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for First Financial Bankshares and Citizens, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bankshares	0	3	0	0	2.00
Citizens	0	0	0	0	N/A

First Financial Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $30.75, indicating a potential upside of 4.91%. Given First Financial Bankshares’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe First Financial Bankshares is more favorable than Citizens.

Profitability

This table compares First Financial Bankshares and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bankshares	31.28%	14.53%	1.54%
Citizens	3.09%	4.68%	0.14%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

69.8% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of First Financial Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Citizens shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

First Financial Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. First Financial Bankshares pays out 51.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens pays out 193.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Financial Bankshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Financial Bankshares and Citizens’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Bankshares	$636.07 million	6.58	$198.98 million	$1.40	20.94
Citizens	$60.02 million	0.73	$1.85 million	$0.33	23.58

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

Summary

First Financial Bankshares beats Citizens on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Financial Bankshares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts. It also provides commercial and industrial, municipal, agricultural, construction and development, farm, residential, and consumer auto and non-auto, as well as non-owner occupied and owner occupied commercial real estate loans. In addition, the company offers advisory and specialized services related to asset management, investing, purchasing, advertising, public relations, and technology services. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Abilene, Texas.

About Citizens

Citizens Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia that provides various commercial and personal banking products and services. It offers demand deposits; and savings and time deposit accounts. The company also provides secured and unsecured loans; mortgage loans; single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans; commercial, industrial, and agricultural production loans; and consumer loans, as well as issues letters of credit. In addition, it offers personal and corporate trust services; credit life and title insurance; and internet and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.