Contrasting Central Plains Bancshares (NASDAQ:CPBI) and Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI)

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) and Central Plains Bancshares (NASDAQ:CPBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Financial Institutions has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Central Plains Bancshares has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Financial Institutions and Central Plains Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Financial Institutions	0	2	2	0	2.50
Central Plains Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00

Financial Institutions presently has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.86%. Given Financial Institutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Financial Institutions is more favorable than Central Plains Bancshares.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Financial Institutions and Central Plains Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Financial Institutions	$377.94 million	2.10	$74.87 million	$4.03	9.98
Central Plains Bancshares	$30.33 million	2.94	$4.00 million	$1.18	18.14

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

Profitability

This table compares Financial Institutions and Central Plains Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Financial Institutions	21.78%	13.45%	1.31%
Central Plains Bancshares	14.33%	5.14%	0.83%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.5% of Financial Institutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.3% of Central Plains Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Financial Institutions shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Central Plains Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Financial Institutions beats Central Plains Bancshares on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Financial Institutions

Financial Institutions, Inc. operates as a holding company for the Five Star Bank, a chartered bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals, municipalities, and businesses in New York. The company provides checking and savings account programs, including money market accounts, certificates of deposit, sweep investments, and individual retirement and other qualified plan accounts, as well as NOW accounts. Its loan products include term loans and lines of credit; short and medium-term commercial loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment; commercial business loans to the agricultural industry; commercial mortgage loans; one-to-four family residential mortgage loans, home improvement loans, closed-end home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit; and consumer loans, such as automobile, secured installment, and personal loans. The company offers personal insurance products, including automobile, homeowners, boat, recreational vehicle, landlord, and umbrella coverage; commercial insurance comprising property, liability, automobile, inland marine, workers compensation, bonds, crop, and umbrella insurance products; and financial services, such as life and disability insurance, medicare supplements, long-term care, annuities, mutual funds, and retirement programs. In addition, it offers customized investment advisory, wealth management, investment consulting, and retirement plan services, as well as operates a real estate investment trust that holds residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans. Financial Institutions, Inc. was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Warsaw, New York.

About Central Plains Bancshares

Central Plains Bancshares, Inc. focuses on providing various banking products and services to retail customers, and small and medium-sized commercial customers in Nebraska, the United States. It offers checking accounts, savings accounts, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company also provides one- to four-family residential mortgage loans secured by properties, as well as commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, multi-family residential real estate loans, construction and land development loans, agricultural real estate and non-real estate loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it offers electronic banking services, including mobile banking, on-line banking and bill pay, and electronic funds transfer. The company was incorporated in 2023 and is based in Grand Island, Nebraska.