Reviewing Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) & National Bank (NYSE:NBHC)

National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) and Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for National Bank and Colony Bankcorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Bank	0	2	5	0	2.71
Colony Bankcorp	0	1	3	0	2.75

National Bank presently has a consensus price target of $46.20, indicating a potential upside of 3.99%. Colony Bankcorp has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.68%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than National Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of National Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.8% of National Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares National Bank and Colony Bankcorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Bank	$436.32 million	4.56	$109.57 million	$2.68	16.58
Colony Bankcorp	$142.08 million	3.01	$28.25 million	$1.60	12.65

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

Volatility & Risk

National Bank has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

National Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. National Bank pays out 47.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Colony Bankcorp pays out 30.0% 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. National Bank has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Colony Bankcorp has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. National Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares National Bank and Colony Bankcorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Bank	17.14%	8.72%	1.18%
Colony Bankcorp	14.83%	10.23%	1.01%

Summary

National Bank beats Colony Bankcorp on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Bank

National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans and leases, such as working capital loans, equipment loans, lender finance loans, food and agriculture loans, government and non-profit loans, owner occupied commercial real estate loans, and other commercial loans and leases; non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans consisting of loans on commercial properties, such as office buildings, warehouse/distribution buildings, multi-family, hospitality, and retail buildings; small business administration loans to support small businesses and entrepreneurs; term loans, line of credits, and real estate secured loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers treasury management solutions comprising online and mobile banking, commercial credit card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, electronic bill payment, lock box, remote deposit capture, merchant processing, cash vault, controlled disbursements, and fraud prevention services, as well as other auxiliary services, including account reconciliation, collections, repurchase accounts, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. The company operates through a network of banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City region, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Texas. It also operates ATMs. The company was formerly known as NBH Holdings Corp. and changed its name to National Bank Holdings Corporation in March 2012. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers various deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, and remote depository products, as well as access to a network of ATMs. As of January 20, 2022, it operated 39 locations throughout Georgia. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.