Isabella Bank (OTCMKTS:ISBA) vs. Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) Head to Head Survey

Isabella Bank (OTCMKTS:ISBA) and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Isabella Bank and Signature Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Isabella Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00
Signature Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Isabella Bank presently has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential downside of 27.26%. Given Isabella Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Isabella Bank is more favorable than Signature Bank.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Isabella Bank and Signature Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Isabella Bank	$72.85 million	4.71	$13.89 million	$2.46	19.00
Signature Bank	$2.70 billion	0.02	$1.34 billion	$10.22	0.07

Signature Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Isabella Bank. Signature Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Isabella Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.1% of Signature Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 9.7% of Isabella Bank shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Signature Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Isabella Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Signature Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 92.1%. Isabella Bank pays out 45.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Signature Bank pays out 6.8% 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. Signature Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Isabella Bank has a beta of 0.11, indicating that its share price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Signature Bank has a beta of 12.61, indicating that its share price is 1,161% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Isabella Bank and Signature Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Isabella Bank	13.28%	7.34%	0.73%
Signature Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Isabella Bank beats Signature Bank on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Isabella Bank

Isabella Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Isabella Bank that provides various banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and individuals and their families. Its deposit products include checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, direct deposits, and money market accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises commercial, agricultural, and residential real estate loans, as well as consumer loans, including secured and unsecured personal loans. It also offers cash management, mobile and internet banking, electronic bill pay, automated teller machines, trust and investment, estate planning, and safe deposit box rental services; and insurance products. The company operated banking offices in Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, and Saginaw counties. Isabella Bank Corporation was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

About Signature Bank

As of March 12, 2023, Signature Bank went out of business. Previously, the company provided digital assets banking services and comprised of certain loan portfolios. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is based in New York, New York. Signature Bank now trades on OTCPK.