Head to Head Survey: Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Colony Bankcorp (NYSE:CBAN) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.4% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of South Plains Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of Colony Bankcorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.3% of South Plains Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and South Plains Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Colony Bankcorp	$190.23 million	2.31	$28.25 million	$1.60	12.96
South Plains Financial	$296.89 million	2.69	$58.47 million	$3.57	11.70

South Plains Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Colony Bankcorp. South Plains Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Colony Bankcorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Colony Bankcorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Colony Bankcorp pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Plains Financial pays out 19.0% 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. Colony Bankcorp has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years and South Plains Financial has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Colony Bankcorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Colony Bankcorp and South Plains Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Colony Bankcorp	0	1	3	0	2.75
South Plains Financial	0	1	5	0	2.83

Colony Bankcorp presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.92%. South Plains Financial has a consensus target price of $46.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.75%. Given Colony Bankcorp’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Colony Bankcorp is more favorable than South Plains Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Colony Bankcorp and South Plains Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Colony Bankcorp	14.83%	10.23%	1.01%
South Plains Financial	20.22%	12.58%	1.35%

Volatility and Risk

Colony Bankcorp has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

South Plains Financial beats Colony Bankcorp on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Colony Bankcorp

Colony Bankcorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Colony Bank that provides various banking products and services to commercial and consumer customers. The company offers various deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits. It also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses; residential and commercial construction, and land development loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial loans; agri-business and production loans; residential mortgage loans; home equity loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company offers internet banking services, electronic bill payment services, safe deposit box rentals, telephone banking, credit and debit card services, and remote depository products, as well as access to a network of ATMs. As of January 20, 2022, it operated 39 locations throughout Georgia. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

About South Plains Financial

South Plains Financial, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for City Bank that provides commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It offers deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, interest-bearing products, savings accounts, and certificate of deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; general and specialized commercial loans, including agricultural production and real estate, energy, finance, investment, and insurance loans, as well as loans to goods, services, restaurant and retail, construction, and other industries; residential construction loans; and 1-4 family residential loans, auto loans, and other loans for recreational vehicles or other purposes. In addition, it offers crop insurance products; trust products and services; investment services; mortgage banking services; online and mobile banking services; and debit and credit cards. The company was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Lubbock, Texas.