Analyzing Capital City Bank Group (NASDAQ:CCBG) & Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG)

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) and Capital City Bank Group (NASDAQ:CCBG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Bankwell Financial Group and Capital City Bank Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bankwell Financial Group	0	0	1	0	3.00
Capital City Bank Group	0	3	2	0	2.40

Bankwell Financial Group currently has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.84%. Capital City Bank Group has a consensus price target of $36.80, suggesting a potential upside of 0.27%. Given Bankwell Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Bankwell Financial Group is more favorable than Capital City Bank Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bankwell Financial Group and Capital City Bank Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bankwell Financial Group	$89.21 million	2.76	$36.66 million	$1.95	16.05
Capital City Bank Group	$223.85 million	2.78	$52.26 million	$3.05	12.03

Capital City Bank Group has higher revenue and earnings than Bankwell Financial Group. Capital City Bank Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bankwell Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Bankwell Financial Group has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Capital City Bank Group has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.8% of Bankwell Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.6% of Capital City Bank Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.2% of Bankwell Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.4% of Capital City Bank Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Bankwell Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Capital City Bank Group pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Bankwell Financial Group pays out 41.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Capital City Bank Group pays out 30.2% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Bankwell Financial Group and Capital City Bank Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bankwell Financial Group	7.77%	5.74%	0.48%
Capital City Bank Group	19.42%	11.29%	1.21%

Summary

Capital City Bank Group beats Bankwell Financial Group on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bankwell Bank that provides various banking services for individual and commercial customers. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides first mortgage loans secured by one-to-four family owner occupied residential properties for personal use; home equity loans and home equity lines of credit secured by owner occupied one-to-four family residential properties; loans secured by commercial real estate, multi-family dwellings, owner-occupied commercial real estate, and investor-owned one-to-four family dwellings; commercial construction loans for commercial development projects, including apartment buildings and condominiums, as well as office buildings, retail, and other income producing properties; land loans; commercial business loans secured by assignments of corporate assets and personal guarantees of the business owners; loans to finance insurance premiums; overdraft lines of credit; and unsecured personal loans. It operates branches in New Canaan, Stamford, Fairfield, Westport, Darien, Norwalk, and Hamden, Connecticut. The company was formerly known as BNC Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. in September 2013. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut.

About Capital City Bank Group

Capital City Bank Group, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Capital City Bank that provides a range of banking- related services to individual and corporate clients. The company offers financing for commercial business properties, equipment, inventories, and accounts receivable, as well as commercial leasing and letters of credit; treasury management services; and merchant credit card transaction processing services. It also provides commercial and residential real estate lending products, as well as fixed and adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans; personal, automobile, boat/RV, and home equity loans; and credit card programs. In addition, the company offers institutional banking services, including customized checking and savings accounts, cash management systems, tax-exempt loans, lines of credit, and term loans to meet the needs of state and local governments, public schools and colleges, charities, membership, and not-for-profit associations. Further, it provides consumer banking services comprising checking accounts, savings programs, interactive/automated teller machines, debit/credit cards, night deposit services, safe deposit facilities, and online and mobile banking services. Additionally, the company provides asset management for individuals through agency, personal trust, IRA, and personal investment management accounts; and various retail securities products, such as the U.S. government bonds, tax-free municipal bonds, stocks, mutual funds, unit investment trusts, annuities, life insurance, and long-term health care, as well as business, estate, financial, insurance and business planning, tax planning, and asset protection advisory services. Capital City Bank Group, Inc. was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida.