Provident Bancorp (PVBC) Competitors

Provident Bancorp (NASDAQ:PVBC) and Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) 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, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Is PVBC or SBSI a better dividend stock?

Provident Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Provident Bancorp pays out 6.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southside Bancshares pays out 51.1% 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. Southside Bancshares has increased its dividend for 30 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 and risk, PVBC or SBSI?

Provident Bancorp has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is PVBC or SBSI more profitable?

Southside Bancshares has a net margin of 19.07% compared to Provident Bancorp's net margin of 11.26%. Southside Bancshares' return on equity of 10.59% beat Provident Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Provident Bancorp	11.26%	4.60%	0.66%
Southside Bancshares	19.07%	10.59%	1.02%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, PVBC or SBSI?

Southside Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Provident Bancorp. Southside Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Provident Bancorp, 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
Provident Bancorp	$57.76M	3.88	$7.27M	$0.63	20.02
Southside Bancshares	$456.07M	1.97	$88.49M	$2.82	10.60

Does the media refer more to PVBC or SBSI?

In the previous week, Provident Bancorp and Provident Bancorp both had 1 articles in the media. Provident Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Southside Bancshares' score of 0.00 indicating that Provident Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Provident Bancorp	Positive
Southside Bancshares	Neutral

Do analysts rate PVBC or SBSI?

Provident Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $12.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.87%. Given Provident Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Provident Bancorp is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Provident Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Southside Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do institutionals & insiders believe in PVBC or SBSI?

74.6% of Provident Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Provident Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Southside Bancshares beats Provident Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.