Financial Survey: Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) vs. California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL)

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) and California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California BanCorp has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Southside Bancshares and California BanCorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southside Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00
California BanCorp	0	0	3	2	3.40

California BanCorp has a consensus price target of $20.33, indicating a potential upside of 1.87%. Given California BanCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.4% of California BanCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of California BanCorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Southside Bancshares and California BanCorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southside Bancshares	$456.07 million	2.04	$88.49 million	$2.30	13.43
California BanCorp	$184.56 million	3.50	$5.43 million	$1.94	10.29

Southside Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than California BanCorp. California 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.

Profitability

This table compares Southside Bancshares and California BanCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southside Bancshares	15.58%	10.94%	1.07%
California BanCorp	26.26%	11.85%	1.59%

Summary

California BanCorp beats Southside Bancshares on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southside Bancshares

Southside Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southside Bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals, businesses, municipal entities, and nonprofit organizations. Its deposit products include savings, money market, and interest and noninterest bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company’s loan portfolio comprises consumer loans that include 1-4 family residential loans, home equity loans, home improvement loans, automobile loans, and other consumer related loans; commercial loans, such as short-term working capital loans for inventory and accounts receivable, short and medium-term loans for equipment or other business capital expansion, commercial real estate loans, and municipal loans; and construction loans for 1-4 family residential and commercial real estate. It also offers wealth management and trust services consisting of investment management, administration, revocable and testamentary trusts, and custodian services for individuals, partnerships, and corporations; safe deposit services; and brokerage services. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated through 56 banking facilities and 73 ATMs/ITMs. Southside Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Tyler, Texas.

About California BanCorp

Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides home equity lines of credit, business loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate and construction loans, small business administration loans, letters of credit, and personal and business credit cards. In addition, the company provides cash vault, sweep accounts, and remote deposit capture services; online and mobile banking services; courier service; lockbox services; and merchant services. It operates branches in San Diego, Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, as well as the Inland Empire. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.