Meridian Bank (MRBK) Competitors

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Is MRBK or SPFI more profitable?

South Plains Financial has a net margin of 18.59% compared to Meridian Bank's net margin of 8.09%. South Plains Financial's return on equity of 12.36% beat Meridian Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meridian Bank	8.09%	9.52%	0.67%
South Plains Financial	18.59%	12.36%	1.26%

Which has more risk and volatility, MRBK or SPFI?

Meridian Bank has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, MRBK or SPFI?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meridian Bank	$197.37M	0.84	$16.35M	$1.42	10.34
South Plains Financial	$288.97M	2.30	$49.72M	$3.00	13.67

Is MRBK or SPFI a better dividend stock?

Meridian Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Meridian Bank pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Plains Financial pays out 20.0% 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. South Plains Financial has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend MRBK or SPFI?

Meridian Bank currently has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.80%. South Plains Financial has a consensus price target of $42.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.66%. Given Meridian Bank's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Meridian Bank is more favorable than South Plains Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meridian Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
South Plains Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MRBK or SPFI?

58.6% of Meridian Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of South Plains Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 14.4% of Meridian Bank 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, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer MRBK or SPFI?

In the previous week, South Plains Financial had 16 more articles in the media than Meridian Bank. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for South Plains Financial and 3 mentions for Meridian Bank. Meridian Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.90 beat South Plains Financial's score of 0.51 indicating that Meridian Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Meridian Bank	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
South Plains Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

South Plains Financial beats Meridian Bank on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.