Reviewing Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) & USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB)

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares USCB Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
USCB Financial	17.24%	15.77%	1.22%
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	16.24%	10.65%	0.56%

Dividends

USCB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. USCB Financial pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group pays out 32.6% 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. USCB Financial has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. USCB Financial 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 USCB Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
USCB Financial	0	1	3	2	3.17
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	0	1	0	1	3.00

USCB Financial presently has a consensus target price of $23.75, indicating a potential upside of 6.48%. Given USCB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe USCB Financial is more favorable than Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

Risk and Volatility

USCB Financial has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.3% of USCB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.4% of USCB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares USCB Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
USCB Financial	$159.60 million	2.58	$26.10 million	$1.52	14.67
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	$71.68 billion	2.33	$7.84 billion	$1.44	18.19

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than USCB Financial. USCB Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

USCB Financial beats Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers loan products, such as small business administration loans, yacht financing, residential and commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; foreign bank loans; and secured and unsecured consumer loans comprising personal loans, overdrafts, and deposit account collateralized loans. The company also offers lockbox, treasury, commercial payments, cash management, and online banking services, as well as provides title insurance policies for real estate transactions. USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, securities, credit card, and consumer finance services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Wholesale Business Unit, Retail Business Unit, Global Business Unit, and Global Markets Business Unit segments. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.