C&F Financial (CFFI) Competitors

C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) and Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, community ranking, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and risk.

Does the media refer more to CFFI or HFWA?

In the previous week, C&F Financial had 1 more articles in the media than Heritage Financial. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for C&F Financial and 3 mentions for Heritage Financial. Heritage Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.70 beat C&F Financial's score of 1.03 indicating that Heritage Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
C&F Financial	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Heritage Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, CFFI or HFWA?

C&F Financial has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CFFI or HFWA a better dividend stock?

C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. C&F Financial pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Heritage Financial pays out 64.9% 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. C&F Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Heritage Financial has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Heritage Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, CFFI or HFWA?

Heritage Financial has higher revenue and earnings than C&F Financial. C&F Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heritage Financial, 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
C&F Financial	$125.53M	1.73	$19.92M	$6.68	10.03
Heritage Financial	$225.80M	3.59	$43.26M	$1.48	16.08

Is CFFI or HFWA more profitable?

Heritage Financial has a net margin of 13.64% compared to C&F Financial's net margin of 11.67%. C&F Financial's return on equity of 8.97% beat Heritage Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
C&F Financial	11.67%	8.97%	0.79%
Heritage Financial	13.64%	7.17%	0.87%

Do analysts recommend CFFI or HFWA?

Heritage Financial has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 16.25%. Given Heritage Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Heritage Financial is more favorable than C&F Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
C&F Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Heritage Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CFFI or HFWA?

Heritage Financial received 143 more outperform votes than C&F Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 67.96% of users gave C&F Financial an outperform vote while only 57.93% of users gave Heritage Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
C&F Financial	Outperform Votes 193 67.96%	Underperform Votes 91 32.04%
Heritage Financial	Outperform Votes 336 57.93%	Underperform Votes 244 42.07%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CFFI or HFWA?

37.2% of C&F Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Heritage Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 6.3% of C&F Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Heritage Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Heritage Financial beats C&F Financial on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.