Financial Comparison: Barclays (NYSE:BCS) versus Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) and Citizens (NASDAQ:CIZN) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Barclays has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens has a beta of 0.04, suggesting that its stock price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.4% of Barclays shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of Citizens shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Citizens shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Barclays and Citizens’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barclays	22.27%	8.80%	0.42%
Citizens	7.00%	11.28%	0.37%

Dividends

Barclays pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Citizens pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Barclays pays out 22.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens pays out 4.8% 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. Citizens has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Barclays and Citizens, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barclays	0	6	4	0	2.40
Citizens	0	0	3	0	3.00

Citizens has a consensus target price of $16.83, indicating a potential upside of 57.76%. Given Citizens’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Citizens is more favorable than Barclays.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Barclays and Citizens”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barclays	$38.42 billion	2.36	$9.46 billion	$2.68	10.04
Citizens	$40.95 million	1.48	$5.49 million	$1.68	6.35

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

Summary

Barclays beats Citizens on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Citizens

Citizens Holding Company operates as the bank holding company for The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia that provides various commercial and personal banking products and services. It offers demand deposits; and savings and time deposit accounts. The company also provides secured and unsecured loans; mortgage loans; single and multi-family housing, farm, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate loans; commercial, industrial, and agricultural production loans; and consumer loans, as well as issues letters of credit. In addition, it offers personal and corporate trust services; credit life and title insurance; and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi.