Sierra Bancorp (BSRR) Competitors

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) 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, valuation, media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in BSRR or CTBI?

55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.2% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Sierra Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are held 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.

Do analysts prefer BSRR or CTBI?

Sierra Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $33.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.67%. Community Trust Bancorp has a consensus price target of $64.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.34%. Given Community Trust Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Community Trust Bancorp is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sierra Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Community Trust Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is BSRR or CTBI more profitable?

Community Trust Bancorp has a net margin of 23.33% compared to Sierra Bancorp's net margin of 20.09%. Community Trust Bancorp's return on equity of 11.77% beat Sierra Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sierra Bancorp	20.09%	11.44%	1.11%
Community Trust Bancorp	23.33%	11.77%	1.47%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, BSRR or CTBI?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sierra Bancorp	$203.87M	2.00	$40.56M	$2.89	10.38
Community Trust Bancorp	$376.01M	2.74	$82.81M	$5.08	11.20

Which has more risk and volatility, BSRR or CTBI?

Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BSRR or CTBI a better dividend stock?

Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Community Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Sierra Bancorp pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Trust Bancorp pays out 37.0% 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. Sierra Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Community Trust Bancorp has increased its dividend for 44 consecutive years. Sierra Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor BSRR or CTBI?

In the previous week, Sierra Bancorp and Sierra Bancorp both had 2 articles in the media. Community Trust Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.90 beat Sierra Bancorp's score of 1.86 indicating that Community Trust Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sierra Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Community Trust Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Community Trust Bancorp beats Sierra Bancorp on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.