Reviewing C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) & John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB)

C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) and John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

37.2% of C&F Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of C&F Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares C&F Financial and John Marshall Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
C&F Financial	$186.13 million	1.33	$26.83 million	$8.70	8.74
John Marshall Bancorp	$115.33 million	2.63	$21.23 million	$1.59	13.50

C&F Financial has higher revenue and earnings than John Marshall Bancorp. C&F Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than John Marshall Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares C&F Financial and John Marshall Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
C&F Financial	14.84%	11.19%	1.04%
John Marshall Bancorp	19.27%	8.67%	0.98%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for C&F Financial and John Marshall Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
C&F Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
John Marshall Bancorp	0	2	1	1	2.75

John Marshall Bancorp has a consensus price target of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.84%. Given John Marshall Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe John Marshall Bancorp is more favorable than C&F Financial.

Volatility and Risk

C&F Financial has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Marshall Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. John Marshall Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. C&F Financial pays out 22.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. John Marshall Bancorp pays out 22.6% 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. C&F Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. C&F Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

John Marshall Bancorp beats C&F Financial on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About C&F Financial

C&F Financial Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals and businesses. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Mortgage Banking and Consumer Finance. The Community Banking segment provides checking and savings deposit accounts, business, real estate, development, mortgage, home equity, and installment loans. The Mortgage Banking segment offers ancillary mortgage loan origination services for loan settlement and residential appraisals. The Consumer Finance segment consists of automobile financing through lending programs that are designed to serve customers in the non-prime market who have limited access to traditional automobile financing. The company was founded on March 8, 1994 and is headquartered in Toano, VA.

About John Marshall Bancorp

John Marshall Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for John Marshall Bank. The Bank is headquartered in Reston, Virginia with eight full-service branches located in Alexandria, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William, Reston, and Tysons, Virginia, as well as Rockville, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The Bank is dedicated to providing exceptional value, personalized service and convenience to local businesses and professionals in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. The Bank offers a comprehensive line of sophisticated banking products and services that rival those of the largest banks along with experienced staff to help achieve customers’ financial goals. Dedicated relationship managers serve as direct points-of-contact, providing subject matter expertise in a variety of niche industries including charter and private schools, government contractors, health services, nonprofits and associations, professional services, property management companies and title companies