Reviewing Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBNK) & Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK)

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

Profitability

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Origin Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	6.36%	13.53%	1.22%
Origin Bancorp	20.47%	10.45%	0.97%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Equity Bancshares and Origin Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0	2	2	0	2.50
Origin Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Equity Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $44.75, suggesting a potential upside of 4.53%. Given Equity Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Equity Bancshares is more favorable than Origin Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equity Bancshares and Origin Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Bancshares	$153.70 million	4.26	$7.82 million	$1.10	38.92
Origin Bancorp	$347.14 million	2.97	$87.71 million	$3.21	10.45

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

Dividends

Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Origin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Equity Bancshares pays out 54.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Origin Bancorp pays out 18.7% 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. Origin Bancorp has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Origin Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equity Bancshares beats Origin Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

About Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, high net worth individuals, and retail clients. The firm’s products and services include lending, deposits, mortgage banking, and insurance. It also offers other banking services such as Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfers. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Ruston, LA.