Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) vs. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (OTCMKTS:SUTNY) Head-To-Head Comparison

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (OTCMKTS:SUTNY) and Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

30.8% of Citizens & Northern shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of Citizens & Northern shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Citizens & Northern pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens & Northern pays out 81.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Citizens & Northern, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00
Citizens & Northern	0	2	1	0	2.33

Citizens & Northern has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential downside of 16.13%. Given Citizens & Northern’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Citizens & Northern is more favorable than Sumitomo Mitsui Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Citizens & Northern’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust	11.81%	10.45%	0.45%
Citizens & Northern	17.41%	11.86%	1.29%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Citizens & Northern”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust	$19.82 billion	1.54	$1.99 billion	$0.43	12.86
Citizens & Northern	$170.03 million	2.96	$23.43 million	$1.48	18.93

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens & Northern. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citizens & Northern, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Citizens & Northern beats Sumitomo Mitsui Trust on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sumitomo Mitsui Trust

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, Inc. is a Japan-based financial holding company whose businesses include banking, asset management, investor services and real estate. Its offerings include trust and banking services, investment products, pension and custody services, securities administration, and real estate brokerage and consulting. The group serves individuals, businesses, institutional investors and public-sector clients, primarily in Japan. It also maintains international operations to support cross-border banking, asset management and investor services.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Through its subsidiary, Citizens & Northern Bank, it provides community banking services to individuals, businesses and organizations. The bank offers deposit accounts and lending products, including commercial, residential mortgage and consumer loans. Its services also include wealth management and trust services. Citizens & Northern serves communities in north-central Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York.