Head-To-Head Analysis: OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) and Citizens Financial Services (NASDAQ:CZFS)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

22.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.6% of OP Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Citizens Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.6% of OP Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Financial Services and OP Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Financial Services	23.31%	12.06%	1.33%
OP Bancorp	16.87%	12.59%	1.08%

Dividends

Citizens Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. OP Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Citizens Financial Services pays out 23.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OP Bancorp pays out 29.0% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Financial Services	$173.51 million	2.21	$36.57 million	$8.55	9.34
OP Bancorp	$166.66 million	1.36	$25.64 million	$1.93	7.87

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Citizens Financial Services and OP Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Services	0	1	1	1	3.00
OP Bancorp	0	1	2	1	3.00

OP Bancorp has a consensus target price of $17.75, indicating a potential upside of 16.93%. Given OP Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe OP Bancorp is more favorable than Citizens Financial Services.

Risk & Volatility

Citizens Financial Services has a beta of 0.36, meaning that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OP Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Citizens Financial Services beats OP Bancorp on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 OP Bancorp

OP Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Open Bank that provides banking products and services in California. It offers demand, checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate, small business administration, commercial and industrial business, single-family residential, term, consumer, and home mortgage loans; trade financing products; and letters of credit, and SWIFT and export advice. In addition, it offers debit and credit card, online transfer and bill payment, electronic delivery of customer statements, and mobile banking solutions for iPhone and Android phones, including remote check deposit with mobile bill pay; direct deposits, cashier's checks, person to person payments, wire transfers, and automated clearing house (ACH) services; and cash management services, including balance reporting, transfers between accounts, wire transfer initiation, ACH origination, and stop payment services, as well as remote deposit capture, positive pay, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. The company operates full branch offices in Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles Fashion District, Los Angeles Koreatown, Gardena, Buena Park, and Santa Clara in California; and Carrollton, Texas; and operates loan production offices in Pleasanton, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Aurora, Colorado; and Lynnwood in Washington. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.