Analyzing CrossFirst Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFB) and Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN)

CrossFirst Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFB) and Colony Bankcorp (NASDAQ:CBAN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for CrossFirst Bankshares and Colony Bankcorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CrossFirst Bankshares	0	0	4	0	3.00
Colony Bankcorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

CrossFirst Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.63%. Given CrossFirst Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe CrossFirst Bankshares is more favorable than Colony Bankcorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CrossFirst Bankshares	14.52%	10.72%	1.04%
Colony Bankcorp	12.75%	8.86%	0.77%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CrossFirst Bankshares	$455.82 million	1.88	$66.67 million	$1.47	11.80
Colony Bankcorp	$160.55 million	1.88	$21.75 million	$1.25	13.81

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

Risk and Volatility

CrossFirst Bankshares has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.3% of CrossFirst Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by institutional investors. 9.3% of CrossFirst Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Colony Bankcorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

CrossFirst Bankshares beats Colony Bankcorp on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CrossFirst Bankshares

CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for CrossFirst Bank that provides various banking and financial services to businesses, business owners, professionals, and its personal networks. The company offers commercial and industrial loans, including enterprise value lending; commercial real estate loans; construction and development loans, such as home builder lending; residential real estate, multifamily real estate, energy, SBA, and consumer loans; and credit cards. It also provides deposit banking products, including personal and business checking and savings accounts; treasury management services; money market accounts; certificates of deposits; negotiable order of withdrawal accounts; automated teller machine access; and mobile banking and international banking services, as well as non-interest-bearing demand deposits and interest-bearing deposits, including transaction accounts. In addition, the company acquires brokered deposits, internet subscription certificates of deposit, and reciprocal deposits. Further, it holds investments in marketable securities. The company serves its clients though branch network, as well as digital banking products. It has full-service banking offices in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.

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 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. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.