Head-To-Head Survey: Summit State Bank (NASDAQ:SSBI) and Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT)

Summit State Bank (NASDAQ:SSBI) and Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Summit State Bank and Orange County Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Summit State Bank	3.87%	N/A	N/A
Orange County Bancorp	30.80%	16.44%	1.75%

Dividends

Summit State Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Orange County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Summit State Bank pays out 47.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Orange County Bancorp pays out 20.3% 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. Orange County Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Summit State Bank and Orange County Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Summit State Bank	$37.09 million	2.34	$6.80 million	$0.34	37.62
Orange County Bancorp	$126.56 million	4.02	$41.61 million	$3.55	10.70

Orange County Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Summit State Bank. Orange County Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Summit State Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Summit State Bank has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orange County Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.5% of Orange County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of Orange County Bancorp shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Summit State Bank and Orange County Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Summit State Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00
Orange County Bancorp	0	1	3	0	2.75

Orange County Bancorp has a consensus price target of $39.25, indicating a potential upside of 3.32%. Given Orange County Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Orange County Bancorp is more favorable than Summit State Bank.

Summary

Orange County Bancorp beats Summit State Bank on 15 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Summit State Bank

Summit State Bank engages in providing an array of financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, their owners and employees, entrepreneurs, high net worth families, foundations, estates, and individual consumers. It specializes in business services, personal accounts, nonprofit programs, and mobile banking ranging from lending, checking, merchant, eBanking, automated teller machines, equity loans, and others. The company was founded on December 20, 1982 and is headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA.

About Orange County Bancorp

Orange County Bancorp, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial and consumer banking products and services, and trust and wealth management services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, local municipal governments, and individuals. It accepts various deposits, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate construction loans, residential real estate loans, home equity loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it provides traditional trust and administration, asset management, financial planning, and wealth management services. The company operates full-service branches and loan production office in Orange, Westchester, Rockland, and Bronx counties in New York. Orange County Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Middletown, New York.