Head to Head Review: Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:GNTY) and Park National (NYSE:PRK)

Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:GNTY) and Park National (NYSE:PRK) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Guaranty Bancshares and Park National, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Guaranty Bancshares	0	1	1	0	2.50
Park National	0	3	0	0	2.00

Guaranty Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $45.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.66%. Park National has a consensus price target of $177.75, suggesting a potential upside of 10.23%. Given Park National’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Park National is more favorable than Guaranty Bancshares.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

39.4% of Guaranty Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of Park National shares are held by institutional investors. 22.3% of Guaranty Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Park National shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Guaranty Bancshares has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Park National has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Guaranty Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Park National pays an annual dividend of $4.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Guaranty Bancshares pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Park National pays out 41.6% 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. Guaranty Bancshares has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Park National has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Guaranty Bancshares and Park National”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Guaranty Bancshares	$123.09 million	4.50	$31.54 million	$3.14	15.52
Park National	$543.45 million	4.77	$151.42 million	$10.29	15.67

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Guaranty Bancshares	17.15%	10.13%	1.02%
Park National	23.46%	12.31%	1.50%

Summary

Park National beats Guaranty Bancshares on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Guaranty Bancshares

Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Guaranty Bank & Trust, N.A. that provides a range of commercial and consumer banking products and services for small- and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company offers checking and savings, money market, and business accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and commercial and industrial, construction and development, 1-4 family residential, commercial real estate, farmland, agricultural, multi-family residential, and consumer loans. It also provides trustee, custodial and escrow, investment management, retirement plan, ATM, night depository, direct deposit, and cashier's check services, as well as online and mobile banking services; debit cards; letters of credit; and treasury management services, including wire transfer, positive pay, remote deposit capture, and automated clearinghouse services. Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Addison, Texas.

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.