ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) & Southern Banc (OTCMKTS:SRNN) Head-To-Head Survey

Southern Banc (OTCMKTS:SRNN) and ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.3% of ServisFirst Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.0% of Southern Banc shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of ServisFirst Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Southern Banc has a beta of -0.09, suggesting that its stock price is 109% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ServisFirst Bancshares has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Southern Banc and ServisFirst Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Banc	0	0	0	0	0.00
ServisFirst Bancshares	0	1	2	2	3.20

ServisFirst Bancshares has a consensus target price of $91.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.38%. Given ServisFirst Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ServisFirst Bancshares is more favorable than Southern Banc.

Profitability

This table compares Southern Banc and ServisFirst Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Banc	7.55%	5.65%	0.75%
ServisFirst Bancshares	26.95%	16.36%	1.61%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Southern Banc and ServisFirst Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Banc	$12.13 million	0.70	$920,000.00	$1.21	8.68
ServisFirst Bancshares	$1.02 billion	4.63	$276.60 million	$5.06	17.07

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

Summary

ServisFirst Bancshares beats Southern Banc on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern Banc

The Southern Banc Company, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Southern Bank company that provides various banking products and services in Alabama. The company’s personal banking products include checking accounts, home mortgage loans, home equity loans, auto loans, and personal loans. Its business banking products comprise business checking accounts, cash flow management, real estate lending, and equipment financing. The Southern Banc Company, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is based in Gadsden, Alabama.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank that provides various banking services to individual and corporate customers. It accepts demand, time, savings, and other deposits; checking, money market, and IRA accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include commercial lending products, including seasonal, bridge, and term loans for working capital, expansion of the business, acquisition of property, and plant and equipment, as well as commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate loans, construction and development loans, and residential real estate loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, vehicle financing, loans secured by deposits, and secured and unsecured personal loans. It also offers other banking products and services comprising telephone and mobile banking, Internet banking, direct deposit, traveler's checks, safe deposit boxes, attorney trust accounts, automatic account transfers, automated teller machines, and debit and credit card systems; treasury and cash management services; wire transfer, night depository, banking-by-mail, and remote capture services; and correspondent banking services to other financial institutions. In addition, the company holds and manages participations in residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans originated by ServisFirst Bank in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.