Farmers National Banc (NASDAQ:FMNB) and Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) Critical Comparison

Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) and Farmers National Banc (NASDAQ:FMNB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Chester Bancorp has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Farmers National Banc has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Chester Bancorp and Farmers National Banc”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Farmers National Banc	$279.92 million	1.75	$45.95 million	$1.45	8.95

Farmers National Banc has higher revenue and earnings than Chester Bancorp.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Chester Bancorp and Farmers National Banc, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chester Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Farmers National Banc	0	3	1	0	2.25

Farmers National Banc has a consensus target price of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.71%. Given Farmers National Banc’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Farmers National Banc is more favorable than Chester Bancorp.

Dividends

Chester Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.3%. Farmers National Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Farmers National Banc pays out 46.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

38.7% of Farmers National Banc shares are held by institutional investors. 38.8% of Chester Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Farmers National Banc shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Chester Bancorp and Farmers National Banc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Farmers National Banc	19.50%	13.34%	1.14%

Summary

Farmers National Banc beats Chester Bancorp on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chester Bancorp

Chester Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Chester National Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in Chester, Illinois. It offers checking accounts, such as regular checking, student checking, golden checking, and club checking accounts; savings accounts, including statement savings, Christmas club, and money market accounts; and certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides loans comprising mortgage, construction, lot, home equity, consumer, and business loans; and reorder check services. It operates two full service offices in Sparta, Illinois; and Perryville, Missouri. Chester Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Chester, Illinois.

About Farmers National Banc

Farmers National Banc Corp. operates as a bank holding company for The Farmers National Bank of Canfield engages in the banking, trust, retirement consulting, insurance, and financial management businesses. It offers commercial and retail banking services, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and installment, and home equity loans; home equity lines of credit, night depository, safe deposit box, money order, bank check, automated teller machine, Internet banking, travel card, E bond transaction, brokerage, and other services. The company also provides personal and corporate trust services in the areas of estate settlement, trust administration, employee benefit plans, and retirement services; property and casualty insurance products and services; and various insurance products through licensed representatives, as well as invests in municipal securities. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Canfield, Ohio.