Reviewing ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI)

ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ACNB and First Guaranty Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACNB	0	2	2	0	2.50
First Guaranty Bancshares	1	1	0	0	1.50

ACNB presently has a consensus target price of $64.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.35%. Given ACNB’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe ACNB is more favorable than First Guaranty Bancshares.

Dividends

ACNB pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Guaranty Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. ACNB pays out 31.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Guaranty Bancshares pays out -1.7% 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. ACNB has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. ACNB is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

ACNB has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Guaranty Bancshares has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ACNB and First Guaranty Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACNB	$161.34 million	4.01	$37.05 million	$5.27	12.08
First Guaranty Bancshares	$92.00 million	1.48	-$56.02 million	($2.42)	-3.40

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

Profitability

This table compares ACNB and First Guaranty Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACNB	27.15%	13.78%	1.77%
First Guaranty Bancshares	-16.83%	-12.25%	-0.60%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

32.3% of ACNB shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.5% of First Guaranty Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of ACNB shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 49.4% of First Guaranty Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ACNB beats First Guaranty Bancshares on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ACNB

ACNB Corporation, a financial holding company, offers banking, insurance, and financial services to individual, business, and government customers in the United States. The company provides checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits and debit cards. It also offers commercial lending products, such as commercial mortgages, real estate development and construction loans, accounts receivable and inventory financing, and agricultural and governmental loans; consumer lending products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile and recreational vehicle loans, manufactured housing loans, and personal lines of credit; and mortgage lending programs include personal residential mortgages, and residential construction and investment mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides other services that are related to testamentary trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney, custodial accounts, and investment management and advisory accounts; and retail brokerage services. Further, it acts as a trustee to invest in, protect, manage, and distribute financial assets. Additionally, the company offers property and casualty, health, life, and disability insurance products to commercial and personal clients; and online, telephone, and mobile banking, as well as automated teller machine services. ACNB Corporation was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

About First Guaranty Bancshares

First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Guaranty Bank that provides commercial banking services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products, including personal and business checking, savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as time deposits to consumers, small businesses, and municipalities. The company provides loans, such as non-farm, non-residential loans secured by real estate, commercial and industrial loans, one- to four-family residential loans, multifamily loans, construction and land development loans, agricultural loans, farmland loans, and consumer and other loans to small to medium-sized businesses and professionals, and individuals. In addition, it offers a range of consumer services, including credit cards, mobile deposit capture, safe deposit boxes, official checks, online and mobile banking, automated teller machines, and online bill pay; provides additional solutions, such as merchant services, remote deposit capture, and lockbox services to business customers; and invests a portion of its assets in securities issued by the United States Government and its agencies, state and municipal obligations, corporate debt securities, mutual funds, and equity securities, as well as invests in mortgage-backed securities primarily issued or guaranteed by United States Government agencies or enterprises. First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Hammond, Louisiana.