Contrasting Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS)

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intercorp Financial Services has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 11.8% of Sierra Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Intercorp Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Sierra Bancorp pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Intercorp Financial Services pays out 31.3% 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. Sierra Bancorp has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Intercorp Financial Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Sierra Bancorp and Intercorp Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sierra Bancorp	25.32%	13.89%	1.35%
Intercorp Financial Services	34.81%	17.06%	2.10%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Sierra Bancorp and Intercorp Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sierra Bancorp	0	3	2	1	2.67
Intercorp Financial Services	0	2	1	0	2.33

Sierra Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $43.83, indicating a potential upside of 2.29%. Intercorp Financial Services has a consensus target price of $62.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.46%. Given Intercorp Financial Services’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Intercorp Financial Services is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sierra Bancorp and Intercorp Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sierra Bancorp	$201.98 million	2.75	$42.33 million	$3.88	11.04
Intercorp Financial Services	$1.67 billion	3.22	$542.25 million	$5.47	8.82

Intercorp Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Sierra Bancorp. Intercorp Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sierra Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts. The company's loan products include agricultural, commercial, consumer, real estate, construction, and mortgage loans. It also offers automated teller machines; electronic point-of-sale payment alternatives; online and automated telephone banking services; and remote deposit capture and automated payroll services for business customers. Sierra Bancorp was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Porterville, California.

About Intercorp Financial Services

Intercorp Financial Services Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers banking, insurance, wealth management, and payment services for retail and commercial clients in Peru. The company provides loans, credit facilities, deposits, and current accounts; life annuity products with single-premium payment and conventional life insurance products, as well as other retail insurance products; and brokerage and investment management services. It engages in the development, management, operation, and processing of credit and debit cards; facilitation of payments and services through commercial stores; and installation and maintenance of infrastructure for transactions through electronic commerce modality and networks of payment methods processors. The company was incorporated in 1897 and is based in Lima, Peru. Intercorp Financial Services Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Intercorp Perú Ltd.