Southern National Bancorp of Virginia (SONA) Competitors

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia (NASDAQ:SONA) and Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Which has more volatility and risk, SONA or SBSI?

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SONA or SBSI?

Southside Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Southern National Bancorp of Virginia. Southern National Bancorp of Virginia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southside Bancshares, 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
Southern National Bancorp of Virginia	$133.11M	2.02	$33.17M	$1.48	7.45
Southside Bancshares	$260.02M	3.27	$88.49M	$2.82	10.02

Do analysts recommend SONA or SBSI?

Southside Bancshares has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.85%. Given Southside Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Southside Bancshares is more favorable than Southern National Bancorp of Virginia.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern National Bancorp of Virginia	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Southside Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is SONA or SBSI a better dividend stock?

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Southern National Bancorp of Virginia pays out 27.0% 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 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.

Does the media prefer SONA or SBSI?

In the previous week, Southside Bancshares had 4 more articles in the media than Southern National Bancorp of Virginia. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Southside Bancshares and 0 mentions for Southern National Bancorp of Virginia. Southside Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 0.54 beat Southern National Bancorp of Virginia's score of 0.00 indicating that Southside Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Southern National Bancorp of Virginia	Neutral
Southside Bancshares	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SONA or SBSI?

77.2% of Southern National Bancorp of Virginia shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Southern National Bancorp of Virginia shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is SONA or SBSI more profitable?

Southside Bancshares has a net margin of 19.40% compared to Southern National Bancorp of Virginia's net margin of 17.12%. Southside Bancshares' return on equity of 11.10% beat Southern National Bancorp of Virginia's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern National Bancorp of Virginia	17.12%	7.23%	0.94%
Southside Bancshares	19.40%	11.10%	1.06%

Summary

Southside Bancshares beats Southern National Bancorp of Virginia on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.