Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) & WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) Head-To-Head Contrast

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) and WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Southern Missouri Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. WSFS Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays out 19.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WSFS Financial pays out 14.9% 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. Southern Missouri Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and WSFS Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Southern Missouri Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Southern Missouri Bancorp and WSFS Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$305.35 million	2.01	$58.58 million	$5.18	10.48
WSFS Financial	$1.40 billion	2.20	$263.67 million	$4.56	12.08

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Southern Missouri Bancorp and WSFS Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
WSFS Financial	0	2	3	0	2.60

Southern Missouri Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $64.67, indicating a potential upside of 19.09%. WSFS Financial has a consensus target price of $66.25, indicating a potential upside of 20.24%. Given WSFS Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe WSFS Financial is more favorable than Southern Missouri Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of WSFS Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 16.6% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of WSFS Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WSFS Financial has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Southern Missouri Bancorp and WSFS Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Missouri Bancorp	19.17%	11.19%	1.19%
WSFS Financial	19.29%	10.15%	1.29%

Summary

WSFS Financial beats Southern Missouri Bancorp on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts. It also provides loans, such as residential mortgage, commercial real estate, construction, and commercial business loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity, direct and indirect automobile loans, second mortgages, mobile home loans, and loans secured by deposits. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment management services; commercial and consumer insurance; online and mobile banking services; and debit or credit cards. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities. The company also provides a range of loans, which comprise fixed and adjustable rate residential loans; commercial mortgage and commercial loans; commercial construction loans; commercial loans for working capital, financing equipment and real estate acquisitions, business expansion and other business purposes; and consumer credit products, such as home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans, unsecured lines of credit, and other secured and unsecured personal installment loans. In addition, it offers insurance products; planning and advisory services, investment management, trust services, and credit and deposit products to individual, corporate and institutional clients; retail securities and insurance brokerage services; mortgage and title services; residential mortgage and refinancing solutions; and leases small equipment and fixed assets, as well as provides financial planning, customized investment strategies, brokerage products, fiduciary, and wealth management services. Further, the company provides ATM vault cash, smart safe, and other cash logistics services; and online reporting and ATM cash management, predictive cash ordering and reconcilement services, armored carrier management, loss protection, and deposit safe cash logistics services, as well as trustee, agency, bankruptcy administration, custodial and commercial domicile services. The company was founded in 1832 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.