Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) versus Peoples Financial (OTCMKTS:PFBX) Critical Analysis

Peoples Financial (OTCMKTS:PFBX) and Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Peoples Financial and Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0	2	3	0	2.60

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a consensus target price of $34.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.54%. Given Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is more favorable than Peoples Financial.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Financial	11.31%	4.06%	0.53%
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	14.42%	8.23%	1.11%

Risk & Volatility

Peoples Financial has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.8% of Peoples Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by institutional investors. 28.1% of Peoples Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Peoples Financial and Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Financial	$35.66 million	2.97	$3.91 million	$0.88	26.08
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	$935.52 million	3.33	$144.88 million	$1.52	21.11

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

Dividends

Peoples Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Peoples Financial pays out 40.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 50.0% 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. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida beats Peoples Financial on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Peoples Financial

Peoples Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for The Peoples Bank that provides banking, financial, and trust services to government entities, individuals, and small and commercial businesses in Mississippi. The company accepts various deposits, such as interest and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). It offers business, commercial, real estate, construction, personal, and installment loans; and personal trust, agencies, and estate services, including living and testamentary trusts, executorships, guardianships, and conservatorships. In addition, the company provides self-directed IRAs; and escrow management, stock transfer, and bond paying agency accounts to corporate customers. Further, it offers other services consisting of safe deposit box rental, wire transfer, night drop facilities, collection, cash management, and Internet banking services. the company provides services to customers of various industries, such as seafood, retail, hospitality, hotel/motel, gaming, and construction. Peoples Financial Corporation was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi.

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.