Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) vs. Banco Santander Brasil (NYSE:BSBR) Critical Analysis

Banco Santander Brasil (NYSE:BSBR) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Banco Santander Brasil has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Banco Santander Brasil and Civista Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Santander Brasil	2	3	0	0	1.60
Civista Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Banco Santander Brasil presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.27%. Civista Bancshares has a consensus target price of $30.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.52%. Given Civista Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Banco Santander Brasil.

Dividends

Banco Santander Brasil pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Civista Bancshares pays out 26.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Banco Santander Brasil and Civista Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco Santander Brasil	$42.52 billion	0.51	$2.29 billion	N/A	N/A
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.25	$46.21 million	$2.70	10.23

Banco Santander Brasil has higher revenue and earnings than Civista Bancshares.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

14.5% of Banco Santander Brasil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Banco Santander Brasil shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Banco Santander Brasil and Civista Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Santander Brasil	7.06%	10.49%	1.04%
Civista Bancshares	20.79%	10.65%	1.35%

Summary

Civista Bancshares beats Banco Santander Brasil on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Banco Santander Brasil

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, small and medium enterprises, and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Banking and Global Wholesale Banking segments. It offers local loans, commercial financing options, development bank funds, and cash management services; export and import financing, guarantees, structuring of asset services. In addition, the company provides financing and advisory services for infrastructure projects and capital markets instruments, as well as offers equity transactions and mergers and acquisitions services. Further, it offers foreign exchange products, derivatives, and investments to institutional investors, corporate clients, and individuals. Additionally, the company provides research services, as well as offers brokerage services for corporate, institutional, and individual investors. Furthermore, it provides deposits and other bank funding instruments, and debit and credit cards. The company provides financial services and products to its customers through multichannel distribution network comprising branches, mini-branches, ATMs, call centers, Internet banking, and mobile banking. Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. The company operates as a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.