Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) & Santa Cruz County Bank (OTCMKTS:SCZC) Critical Contrast

Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC – Get Rating) and Santa Cruz County Bank (OTCMKTS:SCZC – Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ohio Valley Banc and Santa Cruz County Bank’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ohio Valley Banc	$54.58 million	2.50	$11.73 million	$2.58	11.09
Santa Cruz County Bank	$68.13 million	2.70	$21.30 million	$2.44	8.82

Santa Cruz County Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Ohio Valley Banc. Santa Cruz County Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ohio Valley Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ohio Valley Banc and Santa Cruz County Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ohio Valley Banc	22.62%	8.83%	0.99%
Santa Cruz County Bank	30.64%	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Ohio Valley Banc has a beta of 0.23, indicating that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Santa Cruz County Bank has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Ohio Valley Banc and Santa Cruz County Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ohio Valley Banc	0	0	0	0	N/A
Santa Cruz County Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.6% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.5% of Santa Cruz County Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Ohio Valley Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Santa Cruz County Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Ohio Valley Banc pays out 32.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Santa Cruz County Bank pays out 14.7% 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.

Summary

Ohio Valley Banc beats Santa Cruz County Bank on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ohio Valley Banc (Get Rating)

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Ohio Valley Bank Company that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Consumer Finance. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts, demand deposits, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides various residential real estate loans, including one-to four-family residential mortgages; commercial loans for securing equipment, inventory, stock, commercial real estate, and rental property; and consumer loans secured by automobiles, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and other personal property, as well as personal loans, unsecured credit card receivables, floor plan and student loans, and construction loans. In addition, it offers safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, credit card services, and Internet banking services; and financial management online services, such as cash management and news updates related to repossession auctions, current rates, and general bank news. Further, the company provides automatic teller machine (ATM) services, consumer finance, seasonal tax preparation services, and commercial property and various liability insurance services, as well as trust and online-only consumer direct mortgage services. It operates sixteen offices in Ohio and West Virginia; and six consumer finance offices in Ohio. The company owns and operates thirty- six ATMs, including twenty off-site ATMs. Ohio Valley Banc Corp. was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Gallipolis, Ohio.

About Santa Cruz County Bank (Get Rating)

Santa Cruz County Bank provides a range of commercial and personal banking services to residents and businesses. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, term certificate, money market, and health savings accounts; and IRAs and certificate of deposits. It also offers lending products comprising commercial, multi-family, agricultural, construction, wine industry, venture banking, small business administration, business and industry, farm services agency, municipal, government guarantee, and installment loans, as well as loans supported by single-family residential real estate, commercial real estate financing, and lines of credit. In addition, the company provides debit and credit cards, merchant, online and mobile banking, remote electronic deposit, bill payment, treasury management, and cash management services. It operates through seven full-service offices located in Aptos, Capitola, Cupertino, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Watsonville; and two ATMs and night depository kiosks. Santa Cruz County Bank was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Santa Cruz, California.

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