Head-To-Head Contrast: Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CMTV) & First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:CMTV) and First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Community Bancorp and First Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00
First Bank	0	2	3	0	2.60

First Bank has a consensus target price of $19.67, indicating a potential upside of 1.17%. Given First Bank’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Bank is more favorable than Community Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Community Bancorp and First Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Bancorp	25.89%	16.03%	1.52%
First Bank	17.73%	9.58%	1.07%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.9% of First Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Community Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of First Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Community Bancorp and First Bank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Bancorp	$68.79 million	3.43	$16.97 million	$3.29	12.82
First Bank	$245.83 million	1.98	$43.66 million	$1.71	11.37

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

Volatility & Risk

Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bank has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. First Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Community Bancorp pays out 31.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bank pays out 21.1% 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.

Summary

Community Bancorp beats First Bank on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Bancorp

Community Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for Community National Bank that provides a range of retail banking services to residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities. It provides various consumer banking products and services, including checking accounts, savings programs, ATMs, debit/credit cards, and night deposit facilities, as well as online, mobile, and telephone banking. The company’s business banking products and services comprise credit products for various business purposes, including financing for commercial business properties, equipment, inventories, and accounts receivable, as well as letters of credit; and business checking and other deposit accounts, cash management services, repurchase agreements, ACH and wire transfer services, and remote deposit capture. It offers commercial real estate lending products for commercial developers and investors, residential builders and developers, and community development entities, which include credit products to facilitate the purchase of land and/or build structures for business, for investors to develop residential or commercial properties, and for real estate secured financing of existing businesses, as well as financing to startups and other small businesses. The company’s residential real estate lending products include fixed-rate and adjustable rate residential mortgage and home equity loans; retail credit products include personal, automobile, and boat/recreational vehicle loans; and municipal and institutional banking products and services for state and local governments, schools, charities, membership, and not-for-profit associations comprise deposit accounts, tax-exempt loans, lines of credit, and term loans, as well as a collateralized secured deposit products. It operates through a main office in Derby; and eleven branch offices in northeastern and central Vermont. Community Bancorp. was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Derby, Vermont.

About First Bank

First Bank provides various banking products and services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. The company accepts various deposits, including non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as commercial checking accounts. It also offers various loan products comprising commercial and industrial loans, which include line of credit, inventory, equipment, and short-term working capital financing; commercial real estate loans, such as owner-occupied, investor, construction and development, and multi-family loans; residential real estate loans comprising residential mortgages, first and second lien home equity loans, and revolving lines of credit; and consumer and other loans consists of auto, personal, traditional installment, and other loans. The company also provides electronic banking services, including Internet and mobile banking, electronic bill payment, and banking by phone; ATM and debit cards, and wire and ACH transfer services; remote deposit capture; and cash management services, as well as engages in the capital markets activities. It operates full-service branches in Cinnaminson, Delanco, Denville, Ewing, Fairfield, Flemington, Hamilton, Lawrence, Monroe, Pennington, Randolph, Somerset, and Williamstown, New Jersey; Doylestown, Trevose, Warminster, and West Chester, Paoli, Malvern, Coventry, Devon, Lionville, and Glen Mills Pennsylvania; and Palm Beach, Florida. First Bank was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Hamilton, New Jersey.