Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) vs. Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) Financial Comparison

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Dividends

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Pinnacle Financial Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 45.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pinnacle Financial Partners pays out 12.2% 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. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Pinnacle Financial Partners has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pinnacle Financial Partners has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Pinnacle Financial Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Pinnacle Financial Partners shares are owned by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Pinnacle Financial Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	16.93%	7.16%	1.02%
Pinnacle Financial Partners	19.17%	9.91%	1.17%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Pinnacle Financial Partners”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	$808.99 million	3.85	$120.99 million	$1.69	18.83
Pinnacle Financial Partners	$3.07 billion	2.54	$475.06 million	$7.87	12.79

Pinnacle Financial Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida. Pinnacle Financial Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Pinnacle Financial Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0	4	2	1	2.57
Pinnacle Financial Partners	0	7	7	1	2.60

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida currently has a consensus target price of $31.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.01%. Pinnacle Financial Partners has a consensus target price of $111.38, suggesting a potential upside of 10.68%. Given Pinnacle Financial Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pinnacle Financial Partners is more favorable than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida.

Summary

Pinnacle Financial Partners beats Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Stuart, FL.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services. It offers equipment and working capital loans; commercial real estate loans comprising investment properties and business loans; secured and unsecured loans, such as installment and term, lines of credit, and residential first mortgage, as well as home equity loans and home equity lines of credit; and credit cards for consumers and businesses. The company also provides investment products; brokerage and investment advisory programs; and fiduciary and investment services, such as personal trust, investment management, estate administration, endowments, foundations, individual retirement accounts, escrow services, and custody. In addition, it offers insurance agency services primarily in the property and casualty area; merger and acquisition advisory services; and private debt, equity and mezzanine, and other middle-market advisory services. Further, the company provides telephone and online banking, mobile banking, debit and credit cards, direct deposit and remote deposit capture, mobile deposit option, automated teller machine, and cash management services. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.