Analyzing Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) & WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and WesBanco”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	$582.24 million	5.18	$120.99 million	$1.69	18.22
WesBanco	$876.91 million	3.45	$151.51 million	$1.96	16.10

WesBanco has higher revenue and earnings than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida. WesBanco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and WesBanco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0	4	2	1	2.57
WesBanco	0	4	2	1	2.57

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida presently has a consensus price target of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.27%. WesBanco has a consensus price target of $39.17, indicating a potential upside of 24.10%. Given WesBanco’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe WesBanco is more favorable than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida.

Profitability

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and WesBanco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	16.93%	7.16%	1.02%
WesBanco	13.91%	8.55%	1.16%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of WesBanco shares are held 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

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 45.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco pays out 75.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and WesBanco has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

WesBanco beats Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Stuart, FL.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. It offers commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans; retail loans, such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and loans for other consumer purposes; installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as home equity installment loans, unsecured home improvement loans, and revolving lines of credit; and various non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services. The company also provides trust services; and various alternative investment products, including mutual funds and annuities. In addition, it acts as an agency that specializes in property, casualty, life, and title insurance, as well as benefit plan sales and administration to personal and commercial clients; provides broker dealer and discount brokerage services; holds investment securities and loans; and holds and leases commercial real estate properties, as well as acts as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds. WesBanco, Inc. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia.