Reviewing Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) & Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC)

Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC) and Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Dividends

Commercial National Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Ohio Valley Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Commercial National Financial pays out 33.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ohio Valley Banc pays out 30.7% 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. Ohio Valley Banc has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Commercial National Financial and Ohio Valley Banc, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commercial National Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ohio Valley Banc	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

This table compares Commercial National Financial and Ohio Valley Banc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commercial National Financial	23.48%	N/A	N/A
Ohio Valley Banc	14.97%	8.97%	0.93%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Commercial National Financial and Ohio Valley Banc”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commercial National Financial	$28.15 million	1.97	$5.86 million	$1.67	8.38
Ohio Valley Banc	$67.50 million	2.81	$11.00 million	$3.00	13.44

Ohio Valley Banc has higher revenue and earnings than Commercial National Financial. Commercial National Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ohio Valley Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

22.1% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.0% of Commercial National Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ohio Valley Banc beats Commercial National Financial on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commercial National Financial

Commercial National Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Commercial Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, agricultural businesses, commercial businesses, and light industries in Michigan. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and health savings accounts. It also offers personal loan products, such as automobile loans, recreational vehicle loans, personal lines of credit, and unsecured term loans, as well as home equity loans and mortgage loans; and business loans, including secured lines of credit, business equity line of credit, SBA loans, equipment loans, real estate loans, vehicle loans, term loans, USDA loan programs, and capital access loan programs. In addition, the company provides other services comprising business VISA check cards, debit and ATM cards, business statement savings, business certificates of deposit, merchant services, night depository, telephone banking, online banking, e-statements, direct deposit of payroll for employees, child support payments, collection of receivables, and remote deposit capture, as well as treasury services. It provides its services through offices located in Barry, Gratiot, Ingham, Kent, and Montcalm counties in Michigan. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Ithaca, Michigan.

About Ohio Valley Banc

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Ohio Valley Bank Company that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Consumer Finance. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts, demand deposits, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides various residential real estate loans, including one-to four-family residential mortgages; commercial loans for securing equipment, inventory, stock, commercial real estate, and rental property; and consumer loans secured by automobiles, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and other personal property, as well as personal loans, unsecured credit card receivables, floor plan and student loans, and construction loans. In addition, it offers safe deposit box, wire transfer, credit card, home equity loans, and Internet banking services; and financial management online services, such as cash management and news updates related to repossession auctions, current rates, and general bank news. Further, the company provides automatic teller machines (ATMs), consumer finance, seasonal tax preparation, commercial property, and various liability insurance services, as well as trust and online-only consumer direct mortgage services. The company owns and operates ATMs, including off-site ATMs. It operates offices in Ohio and West Virginia. The company was founded in 1872 and is based in Gallipolis, Ohio.