Analyzing Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) & Isabella Bank (NASDAQ:ISBA)

Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) and Isabella Bank (NASDAQ:ISBA) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Origin Bancorp and Isabella Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Origin Bancorp	10.23%	5.09%	0.62%
Isabella Bank	16.65%	8.12%	0.83%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Origin Bancorp and Isabella Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Origin Bancorp	0	1	4	1	3.00
Isabella Bank	0	1	1	1	3.00

Origin Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $43.40, suggesting a potential upside of 24.43%. Isabella Bank has a consensus price target of $38.50, suggesting a potential downside of 5.64%. Given Origin Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Origin Bancorp is more favorable than Isabella Bank.

Risk & Volatility

Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Isabella Bank has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Origin Bancorp and Isabella Bank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Origin Bancorp	$619.96 million	1.74	$76.49 million	$1.91	18.26
Isabella Bank	$72.85 million	4.12	$13.89 million	$2.46	16.59

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

Dividends

Origin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Isabella Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Origin Bancorp pays out 31.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Isabella Bank pays out 45.5% 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.7% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Isabella Bank shares are held by company 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.

Summary

Origin Bancorp beats Isabella Bank on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Origin Bank that provides banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, high net worth individuals, and retail clients in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It offers noninterest and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, money market accounts, and time deposits; and offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, consumer, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, mortgage warehouse, residential mortgage, and paycheck protection program loans. The company also offers personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance products; and Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit box, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfer services; and treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing facilities, peer-to-peer electronic pay solutions, and personal financial management solutions. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 44 banking centers. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.

About Isabella Bank

Isabella Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Isabella Bank that provides various banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and individuals and their families. Its deposit products include checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, direct deposits, and money market accounts. The company’s loan portfolio comprises commercial, agricultural, and residential real estate loans, as well as consumer loans, including secured and unsecured personal loans. It also offers cash management, mobile and internet banking, electronic bill pay, automated teller machines, trust and investment, estate planning, and safe deposit box rental services; and group life, health, accident, disability, and other insurance products, as well as other employee benefit programs. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 30 banking offices in Clare, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, and Saginaw counties. Isabella Bank Corporation was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.