Head-To-Head Contrast: Red River Bancshares (NASDAQ:RRBI) vs. Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and Red River Bancshares (NASDAQ:RRBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Dividends

Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Red River Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sierra Bancorp pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Red River Bancshares pays out 13.9% 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. Sierra Bancorp has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Red River Bancshares has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Red River Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.6% of Red River Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Sierra Bancorp and Red River Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sierra Bancorp	25.32%	13.89%	1.35%
Red River Bancshares	26.86%	12.75%	1.43%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sierra Bancorp and Red River Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sierra Bancorp	$201.98 million	2.66	$42.33 million	$3.88	10.68
Red River Bancshares	$169.85 million	4.01	$42.76 million	$7.22	14.34

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Sierra Bancorp and Red River Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sierra Bancorp	0	3	2	1	2.67
Red River Bancshares	0	3	0	1	2.50

Sierra Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $43.83, indicating a potential upside of 5.83%. Red River Bancshares has a consensus price target of $115.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.06%. Given Red River Bancshares’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Red River Bancshares is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Red River Bancshares has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Red River Bancshares beats Sierra Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts. The company's loan products include agricultural, commercial, consumer, real estate, construction, and mortgage loans. It also offers automated teller machines; electronic point-of-sale payment alternatives; online and automated telephone banking services; and remote deposit capture and automated payroll services for business customers. Sierra Bancorp was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Porterville, California.

About Red River Bancshares

Red River Bancshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Red River Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial and retail customers in Louisiana. The company provides various deposit products, including checking, saving, money market accounts, and time deposits. It offers commercial real estate loans; one-to-four family mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit; construction and development loans; commercial and industrial loans; small business administration paycheck protection program loans; tax-exempt loans; consumer loans to individuals for personal, family, and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment and term loans; home mortgage loans; and lines of credit and standby letters of credit. In addition, the company provides treasury management, private banking, and brokerage; investment advisory, financial planning, and a suite of retirement plans; debit and credit cards, direct deposits, cashier's checks, and wire transfer services; online banking services, including access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; and banking services in person, through ATMs, drive-through facilities, night deposits, telephone, mail, mobile banking, and remote deposits. Red River Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Alexandria, Louisiana.