Reviewing Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) & Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) and Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Agri Bank China pays an annual dividend of $0.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Agri Bank China pays out 25.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sierra Bancorp pays out 31.6% 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. Agri Bank China is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Agri Bank China has a beta of 0.1, indicating that its stock price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Agri Bank China and Sierra Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agri Bank China	0	2	0	0	2.00
Sierra Bancorp	0	3	2	0	2.40

Sierra Bancorp has a consensus price target of $38.67, indicating a potential downside of 0.50%. Given Sierra Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sierra Bancorp is more favorable than Agri Bank China.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Agri Bank China and Sierra Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agri Bank China	$188.76 billion	1.54	$40.48 billion	$2.89	7.20
Sierra Bancorp	$201.98 million	2.49	$42.33 million	$3.42	11.36

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Profitability

This table compares Agri Bank China and Sierra Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agri Bank China	21.51%	9.38%	0.60%
Sierra Bancorp	22.37%	12.38%	1.20%

Summary

Sierra Bancorp beats Agri Bank China on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agri Bank China

Agricultural Bank of China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. It offers demand, personal call, foreign currency call, time or demand optional, foreign exchange call, foreign exchange time, savings, agreed term, and negotiated deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and loans, including housing, consumer, business, fixed asset, working capital, real estate, and entrusted syndicated loans, as well as trade finances, guarantees and commitments, and loans with custody of export rebates accounts. The company provides credit card, debit card, payment and settlement, private banking, cash management, investment banking, custody, financial market, and financial institution services, as well as trading and wealth management services; and personal fund collection and automatic transfer services. In addition, it offers agro-related personal and corporate banking products and services; telephone, mobile, self-service, television, and SMS banking services; financial leasing services; fund management services; asset custodian services; and insurance and reinsurance related products and services. The company operates domestic branches, including specialized institutions, training institutes, tier-1 branches, tier-2 branches, tier-1 sub-branches, foundation-level branch outlets and other establishments; overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, New York, Dubai International Financial Centre, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, Luxemburg, Dubai, London, Macao, and Hanoi; and overseas representative offices in Vancouver, Taipei, Sao Paulo, and Dushanbe. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

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.