SBSI vs. FFBC, FRME, NWBI, STBA, TCBK, TOWN, UBSI, WSFS, FCF, and PFS
Should you be buying Southside Bancshares stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Southside Bancshares include First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), First Merchants (FRME), Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), S&T Bancorp (STBA), TriCo Bancshares (TCBK), Towne Bank (TOWN), United Bankshares (UBSI), WSFS Financial (WSFS), First Commonwealth Financial (FCF), and Provident Financial Services (PFS). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
Southside Bancshares vs. Its Competitors
First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.
Southside Bancshares has a net margin of 19.40% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 18.65%. Southside Bancshares' return on equity of 11.10% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.
First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.
First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southside Bancshares pays out 49.5% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Southside Bancshares has raised 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.
77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 8 more articles in the media than Southside Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 4 mentions for Southside Bancshares. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Southside Bancshares' score of 0.31 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the media.
First Financial Bancorp. has higher revenue and earnings than Southside Bancshares. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southside Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus price target of $28.75, suggesting a potential upside of 12.91%. Southside Bancshares has a consensus price target of $37.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.01%. Given Southside Bancshares' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Southside Bancshares is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..
Summary
First Financial Bancorp. beats Southside Bancshares on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get Southside Bancshares News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for SBSI and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding SBSI and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Skip Chart
Southside Bancshares Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
This page (NASDAQ:SBSI) was last updated on 7/2/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff