Reviewing Omni Financial Services (OTCMKTS:OFSI) & Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Southern First Bancshares and Omni Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0	2	1	0	2.33
Omni Financial Services	0	0	0	0	0.00

Southern First Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $51.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.11%. Given Southern First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than Omni Financial Services.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and Omni Financial Services”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	1.66	$15.53 million	$2.70	15.99
Omni Financial Services	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Southern First Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Omni Financial Services.

Volatility & Risk

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Omni Financial Services has a beta of 2.24, indicating that its stock price is 124% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and Omni Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	10.09%	6.52%	0.52%
Omni Financial Services	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by 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

Southern First Bancshares beats Omni Financial Services on 9 of the 10 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 Omni Financial Services

OMNI Financial Services, Inc. provides various financial products and services to individuals, professionals, and business owners. The company offers deferred annuities, fixed annuities, and immediate annuities; and group medical, key employee, survivor life, disability, fixed life, long term care, and term life insurance products. It also provides college funding, retirement, and estate planning services. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida.