Reviewing Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CMTV) and Park National (NYSE:PRK)

Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CMTV) and Park National (NYSE:PRK) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Park National pays an annual dividend of $4.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Park National pays out 53.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Community Bancorp and Park National’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Bancorp	$54.08 million	1.56	$13.43 million	N/A	N/A
Park National	$564.30 million	4.07	$126.73 million	$7.90	18.02

Park National has higher revenue and earnings than Community Bancorp.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Community Bancorp and Park National, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Park National	0	2	0	0	2.00

Park National has a consensus price target of $130.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.67%. Given Park National’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Park National is more favorable than Community Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.7% of Park National shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.3% of Community Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Park National shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Park National has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Bancorp	23.05%	15.57%	1.20%
Park National	22.03%	12.13%	1.37%

Summary

Park National beats Community Bancorp on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Bancorp

Community Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for Community National Bank that provides financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities in northern and central Vermont. It offers financing for commercial business properties, equipment, inventories, and accounts receivable, as well as standby letters of credit; and business checking and other deposit accounts, cash management services, repurchase agreements, ACH and wire transfer services, card processing, and remote deposit capture. The company also provides commercial real estate lending products, including financing for commercial developers and investors, residential builders and developers, and community development entities, including credit products to facilitate the purchase of land and/or build structures for business; 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. In addition, it offers residential real estate lending products, including fixed-rate and adjustable rate residential mortgage and home equity loans; and retail credit services, which includes personal, automobile, and boat/recreational vehicle loans. The company also provides municipal and institutional banking services, such as deposit account services, term and tax-exempt loans, and lines of credit to state and local governments, schools, charities, membership, and not-for-profit associations. Further, it offers consumer banking services, including checking accounts, savings programs, ATMs, debit and credit cards, night deposit facilities, and online, mobile and telephone banking services. Community Bancorp. was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Derby, Vermont.

About Park National

Park National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Park National Bank that provides commercial banking and trust services in small and medium population areas. The company offers deposits for demand, savings, and time accounts; trust and wealth management services; cash management services; safe deposit operations; electronic funds transfers; Internet and mobile banking solutions with bill pay service; credit cards; and various additional banking-related services. It also provides commercial loans, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, financing for equipment, inventory and accounts receivable, acquisition financing, and commercial leasing, as well as for consumer finance companies; commercial real estate loans comprising mortgage loans to developers and owners of commercial real estate; originates financing leases primarily for the purchase of commercial vehicles, operating/manufacturing equipment, and municipal vehicles/equipment; consumer loans, such as automobile loans; consumer finance services; home equity lines of credit; and residential real estate and construction loans, as well as installment loans and commercial loans. In addition, the company offers aircraft financing services; and ParkDirect, a personal banking application. Park National Corporation was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Newark, Ohio.