Critical Contrast: Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) & Oxford Bank (OTCMKTS:OXBC)

Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) and Oxford Bank (OTCMKTS:OXBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Carter Bankshares has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oxford Bank has a beta of 0.08, suggesting that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Carter Bankshares and Oxford Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carter Bankshares	$254.63 million	2.82	$31.00 million	$4.87	6.64
Oxford Bank	$62.26 million	1.75	$10.96 million	$3.92	11.22

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

Profitability

This table compares Carter Bankshares and Oxford Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carter Bankshares	33.60%	7.51%	0.68%
Oxford Bank	15.06%	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Carter Bankshares and Oxford Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carter Bankshares	0	4	1	0	2.20
Oxford Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Carter Bankshares currently has a consensus price target of $28.50, indicating a potential downside of 11.82%. Given Carter Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Carter Bankshares is more favorable than Oxford Bank.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.5% of Carter Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.5% of Oxford Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Carter Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Carter Bankshares beats Oxford Bank on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carter Bankshares

Carter Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Carter Bank & Trust that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, retirement, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also offers commercial loans comprising secured and unsecured loans; consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education, overdraft protection, and personal investments, as well as residential mortgages; real estate construction, acquisition, commercial, and industrial loans; home equity lines of credit; and credit cards, as well as originates and holds fixed and variable rate mortgage loans. In addition, it provides other banking services that include safe deposit boxes, direct deposit of payroll, and social security checks; online banking products, including online and mobile banking, online account opening, bill pay, e-statement, mobile deposit, digital wallet, and ATM services; title insurance and other financial institution-related products and services; and treasury and corporate cash management services. Carter Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia.

About Oxford Bank

Oxford Bank Corporation provides banking products and services to various customers in Michigan. Its deposit products include savings, checking, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan portfolio comprises home mortgage, home equity, auto, student, term, commercial real estate, and small business administration loans, as well as lines of credit. It also offers cash management, merchant card, remote deposit capture, payroll, overdraft protection, wire transfer, night depository, and notary services, as well as safe deposit box and interactive teller machine services; online, telephone, and mobile banking services; debit and credit cards; and insurance products. The company operates its branches in Clarkston, Davison, Dryden, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, and Oakland. Oxford Bank Corporation was founded in 1884 and is based in Oxford, Michigan.