Southside Bancshares (SBSI) Competitors

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) and First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, community ranking, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is SBSI or FBP more profitable?

First BanCorp. has a net margin of 24.37% compared to Southside Bancshares' net margin of 19.40%. First BanCorp.'s return on equity of 18.89% beat Southside Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southside Bancshares	19.40%	11.10%	1.06%
First BanCorp.	24.37%	18.89%	1.58%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, SBSI or FBP?

First BanCorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Southside Bancshares. Southside Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First 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
Southside Bancshares	$257.86M	3.32	$88.49M	$2.91	9.69
First BanCorp.	$920.41M	3.48	$298.72M	$1.84	10.66

Do analysts prefer SBSI or FBP?

Southside Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.25%. First BanCorp. has a consensus price target of $22.80, indicating a potential upside of 16.21%. Given Southside Bancshares' higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Southside Bancshares is more favorable than First BanCorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southside Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
First BanCorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SBSI or FBP?

First BanCorp. received 117 more outperform votes than Southside Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.80% of users gave First BanCorp. an outperform vote while only 41.69% of users gave Southside Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southside Bancshares	Outperform Votes 173 41.69%	Underperform Votes 242 58.31%
First BanCorp.	Outperform Votes 290 60.80%	Underperform Votes 187 39.20%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in SBSI or FBP?

55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.9% of First BanCorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of First BanCorp. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to SBSI or FBP?

In the previous week, First BanCorp. had 6 more articles in the media than Southside Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for First BanCorp. and 9 mentions for Southside Bancshares. First BanCorp.'s average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat Southside Bancshares' score of 0.81 indicating that First BanCorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southside Bancshares	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First BanCorp.	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SBSI or FBP a better dividend stock?

Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. First BanCorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Southside Bancshares pays out 49.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First BanCorp. pays out 39.1% 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, SBSI or FBP?

Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First BanCorp. has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First BanCorp. beats Southside Bancshares on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.