Head to Head Contrast: Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) versus Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI)

Origin Bancorp (NYSE:OBK) and Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Origin Bancorp and Southside Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Origin Bancorp	16.26%	7.97%	1.00%
Southside Bancshares	16.70%	11.16%	1.11%

Risk and Volatility

Origin Bancorp has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Origin Bancorp and Southside Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Origin Bancorp	0	3	5	0	2.62
Southside Bancshares	0	4	1	1	2.50

Origin Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $58.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.36%. Southside Bancshares has a consensus price target of $34.75, suggesting a potential downside of 1.21%. Given Origin Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Origin Bancorp is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

54.7% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Origin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Origin Bancorp pays out 27.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southside Bancshares pays out 44.7% 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. Origin Bancorp has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Southside Bancshares has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Southside Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Origin Bancorp and Southside Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Origin Bancorp	$420.91 million	4.00	$75.20 million	$4.15	13.14
Southside Bancshares	$278.48 million	3.77	$69.18 million	$3.31	10.63

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

Summary

Origin Bancorp beats Southside Bancshares on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Origin Bank that provides banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, high net worth individuals, and retail clients in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It offers noninterest and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, money market accounts, and time deposits; and offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, consumer, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, mortgage warehouse, residential mortgage, and paycheck protection program loans. The company also offers personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance products; and Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit box, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfer services; and treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing facilities, peer-to-peer electronic pay solutions, and personal financial management solutions. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 44 banking centers. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.

About Southside Bancshares

Southside Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southside Bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals, businesses, municipal entities, and nonprofit organizations. Its deposit products include savings, money market, and interest and noninterest bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company’s loan portfolio comprises consumer loans that include 1-4 family residential loans, home equity loans, home improvement loans, automobile loans, and other consumer related loans; commercial loans, such as short-term working capital loans for inventory and accounts receivable, short and medium-term loans for equipment or other business capital expansion, commercial real estate loans, and municipal loans; and construction loans for 1-4 family residential and commercial real estate. It also offers wealth management and trust services consisting of investment management, administration, revocable and testamentary trusts, and custodian services for individuals, partnerships, and corporations; safe deposit services; and brokerage services. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated through 56 banking facilities and 73 ATMs/ITMs. Southside Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Tyler, Texas.