Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) vs. South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) Financial Survey

Stock Yards Bancorp (NASDAQ:SYBT) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Stock Yards Bancorp and South Plains Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stock Yards Bancorp	0	4	0	0	2.00
South Plains Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00

Stock Yards Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $79.75, indicating a potential upside of 1.51%. South Plains Financial has a consensus target price of $44.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.92%. Given South Plains Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe South Plains Financial is more favorable than Stock Yards Bancorp.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Stock Yards Bancorp and South Plains Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stock Yards Bancorp	$508.11 million	4.56	$114.54 million	$4.35	18.06
South Plains Financial	$288.97 million	2.20	$49.72 million	$3.20	12.25

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

Dividends

Stock Yards Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Stock Yards Bancorp pays out 28.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Plains Financial pays out 18.8% 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. Stock Yards Bancorp has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and South Plains Financial has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Stock Yards Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Stock Yards Bancorp and South Plains Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stock Yards Bancorp	23.86%	13.51%	1.46%
South Plains Financial	18.59%	12.36%	1.26%

Volatility and Risk

Stock Yards Bancorp has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.5% of Stock Yards Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of South Plains Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Stock Yards Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 25.4% of South Plains Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Stock Yards Bancorp beats South Plains Financial on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stock Yards Bancorp

Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company that provides various financial services for individuals, corporations, and others in the United States. It operates in two segments, Commercial Banking, and WM&T. The Commercial Banking segment offers a range of loan and deposit products to individual consumers and businesses in all its markets through retail lending, mortgage banking, deposit services, online banking, mobile banking, private banking, commercial lending, commercial real estate lending, leasing, treasury management services, merchant services, international banking, correspondent banking, and other banking services. This segment also provides securities brokerage services through an arrangement with a third party broker-dealer. The WM&T segment provides investment management, financial and retirement planning, and trust and estate services, as well as retirement plan management for businesses and corporations. It provides services in Louisville, central, eastern, and northern Kentucky, as well as Indianapolis, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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.