Critical Contrast: Citigroup (NYSE:C) vs. First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI)

Citigroup (NYSE:C) and First Guaranty Bancshares (NASDAQ:FGBI) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Citigroup has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Guaranty Bancshares has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.7% of Citigroup shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.5% of First Guaranty Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Citigroup shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 49.4% of First Guaranty Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Citigroup pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. First Guaranty Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Citigroup pays out 26.1% 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. Citigroup has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Citigroup is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Citigroup and First Guaranty Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citigroup	$168.30 billion	1.22	$14.31 billion	$10.25	11.77
First Guaranty Bancshares	$221.76 million	0.67	-$56.02 million	($2.42)	-3.69

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Citigroup and First Guaranty Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citigroup	0	3	14	1	2.89
First Guaranty Bancshares	1	1	0	0	1.50

Citigroup presently has a consensus price target of $150.79, indicating a potential upside of 24.97%. Given Citigroup’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Citigroup is more favorable than First Guaranty Bancshares.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citigroup	10.97%	10.57%	0.73%
First Guaranty Bancshares	-16.83%	-12.25%	-0.60%

Summary

Citigroup beats First Guaranty Bancshares on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc., a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions. The Markets segment offers sales and trading services for equities, foreign exchange, rates, spread products, and commodities to corporate, institutional, and public sector clients; and market-making services, including asset classes, risk management solutions, financing, prime brokerage, research, securities clearing, and settlement. The banking segment includes investment banking; advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, and corporate defense activities; and corporate lending, which includes corporate and commercial banking. The U.S. Personal Banking segment provides co-branded cards and retail banking services. The Wealth segment provides financial services to high-net-worth clients through banking, lending, mortgages, investment, custody, and trust product offerings; and to professional industries, including law firms, consulting groups, accounting, and asset management. The company was founded in 1812 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.