Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) versus Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) Critical Survey

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and Citizens Bancshares (OTCMKTS:CZBS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Citizens Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	15.47%	7.07%	0.98%
Citizens Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Citizens Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0	5	2	0	2.29
Citizens Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida presently has a consensus price target of $31.90, indicating a potential downside of 9.09%. Given Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is more favorable than Citizens Bancshares.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Citizens Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Citizens Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	$935.52 million	3.67	$144.88 million	$1.60	21.93
Citizens Bancshares	$44.68 million	1.79	$12.88 million	N/A	N/A

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Bancshares.

Risk & Volatility

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Bancshares has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Citizens Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 47.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida beats Citizens Bancshares on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Stuart, FL.

About Citizens Bancshares

Citizens Bancshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers checking and savings accounts; and demand and money market deposits. Its loan products include commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; loans secured by personal property, such as automobiles, marketable securities, and other titled recreational vehicles and motorcycles, as well as unsecured consumer debt; commercial real estate loans; single-family residential loans; and construction and development loans. The company also offers investment accounts and certificate of deposit account registry services. In addition, it provides merchant services, which include point of sale terminal, credit and debit card processing, electronic benefits transfer, gift card, and Internet shopping cart services; cash management services; and credit cards. Further, the company offers online and mobile banking, as well as check reorder services. Citizens Bancshares Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.