SunTrust Banks (STI) Competitors

SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI) and Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) are both small-cap regional banks companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, risk and earnings.

Which has more volatility & risk, STI or LKFN?

SunTrust Banks has a beta of -0.16, indicating that its stock price is 116% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of STI or LKFN?

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of SunTrust Banks shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer STI or LKFN?

In the previous week, Lakeland Financial had 2 more articles in the media than SunTrust Banks. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Lakeland Financial and 0 mentions for SunTrust Banks. Lakeland Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.55 beat SunTrust Banks' score of 0.00 indicating that Lakeland Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
SunTrust Banks	Neutral
Lakeland Financial	Very Positive

Do analysts rate STI or LKFN?

Lakeland Financial has a consensus price target of $68.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.58%. Given Lakeland Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lakeland Financial is more favorable than SunTrust Banks.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunTrust Banks	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Lakeland Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is STI or LKFN more profitable?

Lakeland Financial has a net margin of 21.08% compared to SunTrust Banks' net margin of 0.00%. Lakeland Financial's return on equity of 12.71% beat SunTrust Banks' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunTrust Banks	N/A	-10.88%	-17.06%
Lakeland Financial	21.08%	12.71%	1.30%

Which has better earnings and valuation, STI or LKFN?

Lakeland Financial has higher revenue and earnings than SunTrust Banks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunTrust Banks	N/A	N/A	-$19.78M	N/A	N/A
Lakeland Financial	$430M	3.65	$93.48M	$3.50	17.54

Summary

Lakeland Financial beats SunTrust Banks on 13 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.