Norwood Financial (NWFL) Competitors

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) and Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, earnings and risk.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, SBSI or NWFL?

Southside Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Norwood Financial. Southside Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Norwood 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
Southside Bancshares	$456.07M	2.04	$88.49M	$2.82	10.99
Norwood Financial	$101.43M	2.45	-$160K	$0.24	111.67

Is SBSI or NWFL a better dividend stock?

Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Norwood Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Southside Bancshares pays out 51.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Norwood Financial pays out 516.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Southside Bancshares has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Norwood Financial has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Southside Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, SBSI or NWFL?

Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norwood Financial has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SBSI or NWFL?

55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.1% of Norwood Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of Norwood Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer SBSI or NWFL?

In the previous week, Norwood Financial had 2 more articles in the media than Southside Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Norwood Financial and 0 mentions for Southside Bancshares. Norwood Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Southside Bancshares' score of 0.00 indicating that Norwood Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Southside Bancshares	Neutral
Norwood Financial	Very Positive

Is SBSI or NWFL more profitable?

Southside Bancshares has a net margin of 19.07% compared to Norwood Financial's net margin of 2.92%. Southside Bancshares' return on equity of 10.59% beat Norwood Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southside Bancshares	19.07%	10.59%	1.02%
Norwood Financial	2.92%	8.86%	0.81%

Do analysts prefer SBSI or NWFL?

Norwood Financial has a consensus target price of $28.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.34%. Given Norwood Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Norwood Financial is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southside Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Norwood Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Summary

Southside Bancshares beats Norwood Financial on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.