Head-To-Head Comparison: C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) vs. Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT)

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

Volatility & Risk

Orange County Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, C&F Financial has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

42.5% of Orange County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of C&F Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of Orange County Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of C&F Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Orange County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Orange County Bancorp pays out 20.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. C&F Financial pays out 21.4% 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 raised 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Orange County Bancorp and C&F Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orange County Bancorp	0	1	2	1	3.00
C&F Financial	0	0	2	0	3.00

Orange County Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $43.25, suggesting a potential upside of 15.15%. C&F Financial has a consensus price target of $115.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.88%. Given C&F Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe C&F Financial is more favorable than Orange County Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orange County Bancorp	30.80%	16.44%	1.75%
C&F Financial	14.91%	10.72%	1.02%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Orange County Bancorp and C&F Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orange County Bancorp	$158.13 million	3.19	$41.61 million	$3.55	10.58
C&F Financial	$186.13 million	1.69	$26.83 million	$8.96	10.80

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

Summary

Orange County Bancorp beats C&F Financial on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orange County Bancorp

Orange County Bancorp, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial and consumer banking products and services, and trust and wealth management services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, local municipal governments, and individuals. It accepts various deposits, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate construction loans, residential real estate loans, home equity loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it provides traditional trust and administration, asset management, financial planning, and wealth management services. The company operates full-service branches and loan production office in Orange, Westchester, Rockland, and Bronx counties in New York. Orange County Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Middletown, New York.

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.