Contrasting Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) & Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF)

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

Volatility and Risk

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. Comparatively, Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Chemung Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0	3	2	0	2.40
Chemung Financial	0	2	1	0	2.33

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida currently has a consensus target price of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.29%. Chemung Financial has a consensus target price of $64.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.43%. Given Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is more favorable than Chemung Financial.

Dividends

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemung Financial pays out 35.9% 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 and Chemung Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	14.42%	8.23%	1.11%
Chemung Financial	12.77%	12.45%	1.13%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Chemung Financial”s 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	$935.52 million	3.24	$144.88 million	$1.52	20.51
Chemung Financial	$98.09 million	3.51	$15.10 million	$3.79	18.85

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has higher revenue and earnings than Chemung Financial. Chemung Financial 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of Chemung Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida beats Chemung Financial on 11 of the 17 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 Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts. It also offers commercial and agricultural loans comprising loans to small to mid-sized businesses; commercial and residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including home equity lines of credit and home equity term loans. In addition, the company provides interest rate swaps, letters of credit, employee benefit plans, insurance products, mutual fund, brokerage, and tax preparation services. Further, it offers guardian, custodian, trustee, investment, pension, estate planning, and employee benefit administrative services, as well as acts as an agent for pension, profit-sharing, and other employee benefit trusts. Chemung Financial Corporation was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in Elmira, New York.