Reviewing Sberbank of Russia (OTCMKTS:SBRCY) and Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB)

Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) and Sberbank of Russia (OTCMKTS:SBRCY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Civista Bancshares and Sberbank of Russia, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Civista Bancshares	0	3	1	0	2.25
Sberbank of Russia	0	0	0	0	N/A

Civista Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $17.75, indicating a potential upside of 22.75%. Given Civista Bancshares’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Sberbank of Russia.

Dividends

Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Sberbank of Russia pays an annual dividend of $0.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 163.5%. Civista Bancshares pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Sberbank of Russia shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Sberbank of Russia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Civista Bancshares	16.38%	10.23%	0.97%
Sberbank of Russia	40.80%	21.45%	2.97%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Civista Bancshares and Sberbank of Russia’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Civista Bancshares	$219.90 million	1.03	$42.96 million	$2.33	6.21
Sberbank of Russia	$49.52 billion	0.06	$16.97 billion	N/A	N/A

Sberbank of Russia has higher revenue and earnings than Civista Bancshares.

Risk & Volatility

Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sberbank of Russia has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sberbank of Russia beats Civista Bancshares on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.

About Sberbank of Russia

Sberbank of Russia, together with its subsidiaries, provides corporate and retail banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, corporate clients, and financial institutions. The company offers deposit products; pension accounts; payment, transfer, brokerage, and asset management services; car, housing, education, and consumer loans; mortgages; debit and credit cards, and overdraft service; and refinancing products. It also provides derivative, financial instrument, foreign currency, precious metal, corporate structured, and commodities and securities products, as well as debt and capital markets funding, documentary, and other commission services. In addition, it offers life, property, bank card, accident, liability, trust management, investment and universal life, travel, and mutual investment funds insurance products, as well as individual pension plans and corporate pension programs. Additionally, the company provides business bank accounts, platform for exporters and importers, merchant acquiring and international trading services, and corporate cards for small businesses; and loans, investment products and capital markets services, fund investment services, and banking services for corporate clients. It also provides trade finance, interbank lending, currency risk hedging, and treasury services; deposits, custody services, and electronic trading systems; and settlement and cash collection services to financial institutions. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 11 Regional banks and 14,162 branches in Russia. The company also has operations in 18 countries internationally. Sberbank of Russia was founded in 1841 and is headquartered in Moscow, Russia.