Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Park National Corporation or City Holding Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Park National Corporation and City Holding Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Park National Corporation and City Holding Company

Park National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Park National Bank that provides commercial banking and trust services in small and medium population areas in the United States. The company offers deposits for demand, savings, and time accounts; trust and wealth management services; cash management services; safe deposit operations; electronic funds transfers; Internet and mobile banking solutions with bill pay service; credit cards; and various additional banking-related services. It also provides commercial loans, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, financing for equipment, inventory and accounts receivable, acquisition financing, and commercial leasing, as well as for consumer finance companies; commercial real estate loans comprising mortgage loans to developers and owners of commercial real estate; originates financing leases primarily for the purchase of commercial vehicles, operating/manufacturing equipment, and municipal vehicles/equipment; consumer loans, such as automobile, recreational vehicle, and watercraft loans; consumer finance services; home equity lines of credit; and residential real estate and construction loans, as well as installment loans and commercial loans. In addition, the company offers aircraft financing services; and ParkDirect, a personal banking application. Park National Corporation was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Newark, Ohio.

City Holding Company operates as a financial holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia that provides banking, trust and investment management, and other financial solutions in the United States. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans that consist of loans to corporate and other legal entity borrowers primarily in small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies; commercial real estate loans comprising commercial mortgages, which are secured by nonresidential and multi-family residential properties; residential real estate loans to consumers for the purchase or refinance of residence; first-priority home equity loans; home equity lines of credit; amortized home equity loans; consumer loans that are secured and unsecured by automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, certificates of deposit, and other personal property; and demand deposit account overdrafts, as well as owner-occupied real estate and construction, land development, and lines of credit. In addition, it offers mortgage banking services, including fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages, construction financing, land loans, production of conventional and government-insured mortgages, secondary marketing, and mortgage servicing. Further, the company provides treasury management, lockbox, and other cash management services; merchant credit card services; wealth management, trust, investment, and custodial services for commercial and individual customers; and corporate trust and institutional custody, financial and estate planning, and retirement plan services, as well as automated-teller-machine, interactive-teller-machine, mobile banking, interactive voice response systems, and credit and debit card services. The company was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.

Latest Banks and Park National Corporation, City Holding Company Stock News

As of August 3, 2026, Park National Corporation had a $3.7 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $710.6 million. Park National Corporation’s stock is up 36.3% in 2026, up 9.6% in the previous five trading days and up 28.17% in the past year.

Currently, Park National Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 19.1. Park National Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $573.2 million with a 31.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 21.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $12.985 per share for the current fiscal year. Park National Corporation currently has a 2.1% dividend yield.

As of August 3, 2026, City Holding Company had a $2.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 54th percentile of all stocks. City Holding Company’s stock is up 22.1% in 2026, up 1.1% in the previous five trading days and up 19.16% in the past year.

Currently, City Holding Company’s price-earnings ratio is 16.0. City Holding Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $319.7 million with a 41.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $9.264 per share for the current fiscal year. City Holding Company currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare Park National Corporation and City Holding Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Park National Corporation and City Holding Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Park National Corporation and City Holding Company Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Park National Corporation	PRK	D
City Holding Company	CHCO	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Park National Corporation has a Value Score of 25, which is Expensive. City Holding Company has a Value Score of 44, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Park National Corporation or City Holding Company has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Park National Corporation or City Holding Company is the better investment when it comes to value.

Park National Corporation and City Holding Company Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Park National Corporation	PRK	B
City Holding Company	CHCO	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Park National Corporation has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong. City Holding Company has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: City Holding Company

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, City Holding Company has a more attractive growth grade than Park National Corporation. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, City Holding Company could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Park National Corporation and City Holding Company’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Park National Corporation	PRK	B
City Holding Company	CHCO	B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Park National Corporation has a Momentum Score of 70, which is Strong. City Holding Company has a Momentum Score of 63, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Momentum Grade breakdown above, both Park National Corporation and City Holding Company have a grade of B. For those who focus solely on a company’s momentum, further research will need to be conducted into both companies to see if they fit your individual needs as an investor.

Other Park National Corporation and City Holding Company Grades

In addition to Momentum, Value and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Estimate Revisions and Quality.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Park National Corporation and City Holding Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Park National Corporation or City Holding Company Stock?

Overall, Park National Corporation stock has a Value Score of 25, Growth Score of 73 and Momentum Score of 70.

City Holding Company stock has a Value Score of 44, Growth Score of 100 and Momentum Score of 63.

Comparing Park National Corporation and City Holding Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.