Financial Analysis: Capital City Bank Group (NASDAQ:CCBG) versus Hilltop (NYSE:HTH)

Capital City Bank Group (NASDAQ:CCBG) and Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Capital City Bank Group and Hilltop, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Capital City Bank Group	0	3	1	0	2.25
Hilltop	0	2	1	1	2.75

Capital City Bank Group presently has a consensus price target of $49.75, indicating a potential upside of 9.01%. Hilltop has a consensus price target of $37.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.66%. Given Capital City Bank Group’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Capital City Bank Group is more favorable than Hilltop.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Capital City Bank Group and Hilltop”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Capital City Bank Group	$286.74 million	2.72	$61.56 million	$3.53	12.93
Hilltop	$1.63 billion	1.36	$165.59 million	$2.64	14.30

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

Profitability

This table compares Capital City Bank Group and Hilltop’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Capital City Bank Group	21.01%	11.10%	1.38%
Hilltop	10.13%	7.32%	1.03%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.6% of Capital City Bank Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Capital City Bank Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.9% of Hilltop shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Capital City Bank Group pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Capital City Bank Group pays out 30.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hilltop pays out 30.3% 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. Capital City Bank Group has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years and Hilltop has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Capital City Bank Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Capital City Bank Group has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hilltop has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hilltop beats Capital City Bank Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Capital City Bank Group

Capital City Bank Group, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Capital City Bank that provides a range of banking- related services to individual and corporate clients. The company offers financing for commercial business properties, equipment, inventories, and accounts receivable, as well as commercial leasing and letters of credit; treasury management services; and merchant credit card transaction processing services. It also provides commercial and residential real estate lending products, as well as fixed and adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans; personal, automobile, boat/RV, and home equity loans; and credit card programs. In addition, the company offers institutional banking services, including customized checking and savings accounts, cash management systems, tax-exempt loans, lines of credit, and term loans to meet the needs of state and local governments, public schools and colleges, charities, membership, and not-for-profit associations. Further, it provides consumer banking services comprising checking accounts, savings programs, interactive/automated teller machines, debit/credit cards, night deposit services, safe deposit facilities, and online and mobile banking services. Additionally, the company provides asset management for individuals through agency, personal trust, IRA, and personal investment management accounts; and various retail securities products, such as the U.S. government bonds, tax-free municipal bonds, stocks, mutual funds, unit investment trusts, annuities, life insurance, and long-term health care, as well as business, estate, financial, insurance and business planning, tax planning, and asset protection advisory services. Capital City Bank Group, Inc. was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc. provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance. It also provides treasury management, asset management, check cards, safe deposit boxes, online banking, bill pay, and overdraft privilege services; and estate planning, management and administration, investment portfolio management, employee benefit accounts, and individual retirement accounts services, as well as automated teller machines. The Broker-Dealer segment offers public finance services that assist public entities in originating, syndicating, and distributing securities of municipalities and political subdivisions; specialized advisory and investment banking services; advice and guidance to arbitrage rebate compliance, portfolio management, and local government investment pool administration; advisory services and products for derivatives and commodities; agricultural insurance; and sells, trades in, and underwrites U.S. government and government agency bonds, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds; mortgage-backed, asset-backed, and commercial mortgage-backed securities and structured products; and provides asset and liability management advisory, clearing, retail, and securities lending services. The Mortgage Origination segment offers fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, jumbo, new construction, Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, and United States Department of Agriculture loans. Hilltop Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Dallas, Texas.