Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) vs. Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) Critical Analysis

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) and Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Regions Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Regions Financial pays out 44.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays out 17.1% 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. Regions Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Regions Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Regions Financial has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Chesapeake Financial Shares has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Regions Financial and Chesapeake Financial Shares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regions Financial	23.13%	12.70%	1.40%
Chesapeake Financial Shares	17.24%	15.88%	1.20%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Regions Financial and Chesapeake Financial Shares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regions Financial	3	8	7	0	2.22
Chesapeake Financial Shares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Regions Financial presently has a consensus price target of $30.47, suggesting a potential upside of 6.63%. Given Regions Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Regions Financial is more favorable than Chesapeake Financial Shares.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Regions Financial and Chesapeake Financial Shares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regions Financial	$9.61 billion	2.54	$2.16 billion	$2.40	11.91
Chesapeake Financial Shares	$102.27 million	1.59	$10.00 million	$4.22	8.23

Regions Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Chesapeake Financial Shares. Chesapeake Financial Shares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Regions Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

79.4% of Regions Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.7% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Regions Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 39.5% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Regions Financial beats Chesapeake Financial Shares on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services. It serves corporate, middle market, and commercial real estate developers and investors. The Consumer Bank segment provides consumer banking products and services related to residential first mortgages, home equity lines and loans, consumer credit cards, and other consumer loans, as well as deposits. The Wealth Management segment offers credit related products, and retirement and savings solutions; and trust and investment management, asset management, and estate planning services to individuals, businesses, governmental institutions, and non-profit entities. It also provides investment and insurance products; low-income housing tax credit corporate fund syndication services; and other specialty financing services. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

About Chesapeake Financial Shares

Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Chesapeake Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts interest and noninterest checking, savings, and money market accounts; and variable-rate and fixed-term money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers mortgage, and single-family residential and residential construction loans; commercial loans, which include owner-occupied commercial development, retail, builders/contractors, medical, service and professional, hospitality, nonprofits, marine industry, and agricultural and seafood loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company provides merchant processing, accounts receivable financing, wealth management and trust, and mortgage banking services, as well as cash management services. The company was founded in 1900 and is based in Kilmarnock, Virginia.