Head to Head Review: Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) & SouthCrest Financial Group (OTCMKTS:SCSG)

SouthCrest Financial Group (OTCMKTS:SCSG) and Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares SouthCrest Financial Group and Kearny Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SouthCrest Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kearny Financial	10.39%	4.61%	0.45%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SouthCrest Financial Group and Kearny Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SouthCrest Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kearny Financial	$343.53 million	1.59	$26.08 million	$0.57	14.80

Kearny Financial has higher revenue and earnings than SouthCrest Financial Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for SouthCrest Financial Group and Kearny Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SouthCrest Financial Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Kearny Financial	0	1	2	0	2.67

Kearny Financial has a consensus target price of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.63%. Given Kearny Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Kearny Financial is more favorable than SouthCrest Financial Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.0% of Kearny Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Kearny Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Kearny Financial beats SouthCrest Financial Group on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SouthCrest Financial Group

SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for SouthCrest Bank, N.A. that provides various banking products and services. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company also provides personal loans for cars, boats, recreational vehicles, and other purchases; home equity lines of credit; loans on investment properties; owner occupied real estate, acquisition construction and development, professional practice acquisition, equipment and inventory, construction to permanent, and investment real estate loans; and working capital and lines of credit. In addition, it offers credit cards; remote deposit capture, positive pay, ACH, online wires, merchant, and reorder checks services; and online banking, online bill pay, mobile banking and deposit, and telephone banking services. The company serves retail, private, entrepreneurial, high-net-worth, and commercial customers. It operates through 9 branches in Georgia. SouthCrest Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides various loans, such as multi-family and nonresidential real estate mortgage loans, commercial term loans and lines of credit, one- to four-family residential mortgage loans, and home equity loans and lines of credit; loans to individuals, builders, or developers for the construction of multi-family residential buildings or commercial real estate, or for the construction or renovation of one- to four-family residences; overdraft lines of credit; and personal loans. In addition, it engages in the investment activities. Kearny Financial Corp. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey.