2020 Journal of Community Bank Studies

FIRST PLACE: Mississippi State University

approximately $7,843 billion in assets, 42% of the baking industry assets (fdic.gov). As these large corporations continue to consume the competition, community banks become rarer and more valuable. CNB has made it a focus to grow to regional size despite this trend of acquisitions throughout banking institutions. CNBs determination and ability to be a key member of their community sets them apart from these larger banks. Citizens National Bank has done an excellent job by making their primary focus to serve its community and to remain a community bank. CNB started with only $50,000 and a small store on a dirt road; today, CNB manages around $1.432 billion in assets and has grown into 15 communities with 28 branches. There is a high- risk of mergers and acquisitions for community banks across the nation. However, CNB successfully stuck to their mission and vision statement stated within their “Declaration of Independence” (yourcnb.com). This “Declaration” portrays that CNB will continue to build the trust of its customers by focusing on Mississippi’s future and encouraging personal, business, and community development that “finances the dreams of Mississippians.” Part I: Financial Analysis Discussion of Peer Group

This includes institutions from about $1.18 billion to about $1.685 billion at the end of 2019. We wanted to include a large enough sample of institutions around the nation without including institutions that are either too large, or too small, to be accurately compared to CNB. A detailed summary of both CNB and the peer group can be found in Appendix A. Earnings Performance After a thorough review of Citizens National Bank’s financial data and performance, it is apparent that the bank has seen strong growth in earnings over the last five years. Net income has increased from $16.3 million in 2015 to $26.4 million in 2019. CNB’s growth has come organically, without acquisitions, and is due to its relationships within the community. CNB has an excellent relationship with the members in its community and uses their relationships in part to fuel their growth in Mississippi. Due to the bank’s leadership and financially sound decision making, CNB was able to outperform its peers (PG) over the last 5 years in both net income and total revenue.

Net Income and Total Revenue ($ in 000’s)

Total Revenue CNB Net Income CNB

Average Total Revenue PG Average Net Income PG

$80,000 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 $0

The peer group we have selected for Citizens National Bank (CNB) is comprised of 176 banks in 41 different states. A peer group (PG) that is likely to be the most accurate would be based on asset size, in which we gave a range of about $500 million.

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