Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) and BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) Head-To-Head Contrast

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) and BancFirst (NASDAQ:BANF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BancFirst has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southside Bancshares	15.85%	10.81%	1.06%
BancFirst	25.50%	13.62%	1.70%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.7% of BancFirst shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Southside Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 31.7% of BancFirst shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. BancFirst pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Southside Bancshares pays out 61.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BancFirst pays out 26.8% 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 and BancFirst has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Southside Bancshares and BancFirst”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southside Bancshares	$419.03 million	2.39	$69.18 million	$2.36	14.24
BancFirst	$960.40 million	3.89	$240.61 million	$7.30	15.25

BancFirst has higher revenue and earnings than Southside Bancshares. Southside Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BancFirst, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Southside Bancshares and BancFirst, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southside Bancshares	0	4	1	0	2.20
BancFirst	0	4	0	0	2.00

Southside Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.18%. BancFirst has a consensus target price of $124.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.40%. Given BancFirst’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BancFirst is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Summary

BancFirst beats Southside Bancshares on 13 of the 17 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 BancFirst

BancFirst Corporation operates as the bank holding company for BancFirst that provides a range of commercial banking services to retail customers, and small to medium-sized businesses. The company operates through BancFirst Metropolitan Banks, BancFirst Community Banks, Pegasus, Worthington, and Other Financial Services segments. It offers checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, sweep accounts, club accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as overdraft protection and auto draft services. The company also provides commercial and agricultural non-real estate loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchase of equipment, and other needs; lending services that include private banking, energy, commercial and residential real estate, and commercial and industrial loans; and loans to finance purchases of consumer goods, such as automobiles, boats, household goods, vacations, and education. In addition, it engages in the investment management and administration of trusts for individuals, corporations, and employee benefit plans, as well as bond trustee and paying agent business for various Oklahoma municipalities and governmental entities; and provision of item processing, research, and other correspondent banking services to financial institutions and governmental units. Further, the company provides insurance agency services; depository and funds transfer, collection, safe deposit box, cash management, and other services. It serves customers in non-metropolitan trade centers and cities in the metropolitan statistical areas of Oklahoma. The company was formerly known as United Community Corporation and changed its name to BancFirst Corporation in November 1988. BancFirst Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.