C&F Financial (CFFI) Competitors

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) and C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Is MBWM or CFFI more profitable?

Mercantile Bank has a net margin of 21.35% compared to C&F Financial's net margin of 12.56%. Mercantile Bank's return on equity of 13.33% beat C&F Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mercantile Bank	21.35%	13.33%	1.31%
C&F Financial	12.56%	9.59%	0.85%

Does the media favor MBWM or CFFI?

In the previous week, Mercantile Bank had 4 more articles in the media than C&F Financial. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Mercantile Bank and 2 mentions for C&F Financial. C&F Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat Mercantile Bank's score of 0.49 indicating that C&F Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Do analysts rate MBWM or CFFI?

Mercantile Bank presently has a consensus price target of $52.83, suggesting a potential upside of 9.07%. Given Mercantile Bank's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mercantile Bank is more favorable than C&F Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mercantile Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
C&F Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has higher earnings and valuation, MBWM or CFFI?

Mercantile Bank has higher revenue and earnings than C&F Financial. C&F Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mercantile Bank, 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
Mercantile Bank	$361.89M	2.17	$79.59M	$4.82	10.05
C&F Financial	$170.13M	1.24	$19.83M	$6.68	9.72

Is MBWM or CFFI a better dividend stock?

Mercantile Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Mercantile Bank pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. C&F Financial pays out 27.5% 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. Mercantile Bank has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and C&F Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Mercantile Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MBWM or CFFI?

58.6% of Mercantile Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of C&F Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Mercantile Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of C&F Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, MBWM or CFFI?

Mercantile Bank has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, C&F Financial has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mercantile Bank beats C&F Financial on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.