Head-To-Head Review: Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) vs. LCNB (NASDAQ:LCNB)

Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) and LCNB (NASDAQ:LCNB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Carter Bankshares and LCNB, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carter Bankshares	0	0	2	0	3.00
LCNB	0	0	0	0	N/A

Carter Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $21.50, indicating a potential upside of 25.95%. Given Carter Bankshares’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Carter Bankshares is more favorable than LCNB.

Risk and Volatility

Carter Bankshares has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LCNB has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Carter Bankshares and LCNB”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carter Bankshares	$126.13 million	3.11	$23.19 million	$0.57	29.95
LCNB	$72.42 million	2.87	$12.63 million	$0.92	15.96

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

Profitability

This table compares Carter Bankshares and LCNB’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carter Bankshares	5.41%	4.09%	0.32%
LCNB	5.97%	6.55%	0.67%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.5% of Carter Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.7% of LCNB shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Carter Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.8% of LCNB shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Carter Bankshares beats LCNB on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carter Bankshares

Carter Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Carter Bank & Trust that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, retirement, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also offers commercial loans comprising secured and unsecured loans; consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education, overdraft protection, and personal investments, as well as residential mortgages; real estate construction, acquisition, commercial, and industrial loans; home equity lines of credit; and credit cards, as well as originates and holds fixed and variable rate mortgage loans. In addition, it provides other banking services that include safe deposit boxes, direct deposit of payroll, and social security checks; online banking products, including online and mobile banking, online account opening, bill pay, e-statement, mobile deposit, digital wallet, and ATM services; title insurance and other financial institution-related products and services; and treasury and corporate cash management services. Carter Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia.

About LCNB

LCNB Corp. operates as the financial holding company for LCNB National Bank that provides banking services in Ohio. Its deposit products include checking accounts, demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW and money market deposits, as well as individual retirement accounts and time certificates. The company's loan products comprise commercial and industrial, commercial and residential real estate, agricultural, construction, and small business administration loans; and residential mortgage loans that consists of loans for purchasing or refinancing personal residences, home equity lines of credit, and loans for commercial or consumer purposes secured by residential mortgages. It offers consumer loans, such as automobile, recreational vehicles, boat, home improvement, and personal loans. In addition, the company provides trust administration, estate settlement, and fiduciary services; and investment management services for trusts, agency accounts, individual retirement accounts, and foundations/endowments. Further, it offers investment services and products, including financial needs analysis, mutual funds, securities trading, annuities, and life insurance; and security brokerage services. Additionally, the company provides safe deposit boxes, night depositories, cashier's checks, bank-by-mail, ATMs, cash and transaction services, debit cards, wire transfers, electronic funds transfer, utility bill collections, notary public service, cash management services, telephone banking, PC Internet banking, mobile banking, and other services for individuals and businesses. LCNB Corp. was founded in 1877 and is headquartered in Lebanon, Ohio.