Head-To-Head Survey: Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) versus First Savings Financial Group (NASDAQ:FSFG)

First Savings Financial Group (NASDAQ:FSFG) and Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.2% of First Savings Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.1% of First Savings Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.8% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for First Savings Financial Group and Southern Missouri Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Savings Financial Group	0	0	4	0	3.00
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25

First Savings Financial Group presently has a consensus target price of $32.33, suggesting a potential downside of 2.43%. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a consensus target price of $62.83, suggesting a potential upside of 1.77%. Given Southern Missouri Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Southern Missouri Bancorp is more favorable than First Savings Financial Group.

Profitability

This table compares First Savings Financial Group and Southern Missouri Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Savings Financial Group	15.82%	11.73%	0.88%
Southern Missouri Bancorp	19.86%	11.57%	1.25%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Savings Financial Group and Southern Missouri Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Savings Financial Group	$84.16 million	2.75	$23.16 million	$3.31	10.01
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$305.35 million	2.26	$58.58 million	$5.46	11.31

Southern Missouri Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Savings Financial Group. First Savings Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern Missouri Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

First Savings Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. First Savings Financial Group pays out 19.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays out 18.3% 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. First Savings Financial Group has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Southern Missouri Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

First Savings Financial Group has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Southern Missouri Bancorp beats First Savings Financial Group on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Savings Financial Group

First Savings Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Savings Bank that provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in southern Indiana. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, SBA Lending, and Mortgage Banking. It accepts deposits, such as checking accounts, NOW and money market accounts, regular savings accounts, and time deposits. The company also provides loans, including one-to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction, land and land development, multi-family real estate, and commercial business loans, as well as consumer loans, such as automobile and truck loans, home equity lines of credit, home improvement loans, unsecured loans, boat and mobile home loans, loans secured by savings deposits, and other personal loans. In addition, it is involved in the mortgage banking; investment activities; and the provision of property and casualty insurance products, and reinsurance to other third-party insurance captives. First Savings Financial Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts. It also provides loans, such as residential mortgage, commercial real estate, construction, and commercial business loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity, direct and indirect automobile loans, second mortgages, mobile home loans, and loans secured by deposits. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment management services; commercial and consumer insurance; online and mobile banking services; and debit or credit cards. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.