Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) & South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Head-To-Head Contrast

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Southern First Bancshares and South Plains Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0	0	0	1	4.00
South Plains Financial	0	0	4	0	3.00

Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.85%. South Plains Financial has a consensus price target of $41.50, suggesting a potential upside of 17.90%. Given Southern First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than South Plains Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and South Plains Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	8.50%	5.57%	0.44%
South Plains Financial	17.67%	11.73%	1.19%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of South Plains Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Southern First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.6% of South Plains Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and South Plains Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern First Bancshares	$213.35 million	1.36	$15.53 million	$2.26	15.74
South Plains Financial	$288.97 million	1.98	$49.72 million	$3.00	11.73

South Plains Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Southern First Bancshares. South Plains Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern First Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

South Plains Financial beats Southern First Bancshares on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans; construction real estate loans; commercial business loans for various lines of businesses, such as the manufacturing, service industry, and professional service areas; consumer real estate and home equity loans; and other consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment loans and revolving lines of credit. In addition, the company provides other bank services, such as internet banking, cash management, safe deposit boxes, direct deposit, automatic drafts, bill payment, and mobile banking services. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

About South Plains Financial

South Plains Financial, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for City Bank that provides commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It offers deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, interest-bearing products, savings accounts, and certificate of deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; general and specialized commercial loans, including agricultural production and real estate, energy, finance, investment, and insurance loans, as well as loans to goods, services, restaurant and retail, construction, and other industries; residential construction loans; and 1-4 family residential loans, auto loans, and other loans for recreational vehicles or other purposes. In addition, it offers crop insurance products; trust products and services; investment services; mortgage banking services; online and mobile banking services; and debit and credit cards. The company was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Lubbock, Texas.