South Plains Financial (SPFI) Competitors

Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Do analysts rate CTBI or SPFI?

Community Trust Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $64.50, indicating a potential upside of 14.16%. South Plains Financial has a consensus target price of $44.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.89%. Given Community Trust Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Community Trust Bancorp is more favorable than South Plains Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Trust Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
South Plains Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CTBI or SPFI?

60.2% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of South Plains Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.6% of South Plains Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, CTBI or SPFI?

Community Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CTBI or SPFI a better dividend stock?

Community Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Community Trust Bancorp pays out 41.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Plains Financial pays out 20.0% 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. Community Trust Bancorp has increased its dividend for 44 consecutive years and South Plains Financial has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Community Trust Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is CTBI or SPFI more profitable?

Community Trust Bancorp has a net margin of 23.33% compared to South Plains Financial's net margin of 18.59%. South Plains Financial's return on equity of 12.27% beat Community Trust Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Trust Bancorp	23.33%	11.77%	1.47%
South Plains Financial	18.59%	12.27%	1.26%

Does the media refer more to CTBI or SPFI?

In the previous week, South Plains Financial had 5 more articles in the media than Community Trust Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for South Plains Financial and 2 mentions for Community Trust Bancorp. Community Trust Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.90 beat South Plains Financial's score of 0.08 indicating that Community Trust Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Community Trust Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
South Plains Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, CTBI or SPFI?

Community Trust Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than South Plains Financial. Community Trust Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than South Plains 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
Community Trust Bancorp	$264.82M	3.86	$82.81M	$5.08	11.12
South Plains Financial	$288.97M	2.20	$49.72M	$3.20	12.26

Summary

Community Trust Bancorp beats South Plains Financial on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.