Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) & HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) Head to Head Contrast

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Southside Bancshares and HomeTrust Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southside Bancshares	0	6	0	0	2.00
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	3	2	1	2.67

Southside Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $34.75, suggesting a potential upside of 9.33%. HomeTrust Bancshares has a consensus price target of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.44%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Southside Bancshares.

Volatility & Risk

Southside Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Southside Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Southside Bancshares pays out 58.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.1% 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. Southside Bancshares has increased 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.7% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Southside Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southside Bancshares	$248.21 million	3.82	$75.71 million	$2.54	12.51
HomeTrust Bancshares	$216.45 million	3.63	$66.27 million	$3.97	11.86

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southside Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
HomeTrust Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

HomeTrust Bancshares beats Southside Bancshares on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. Its deposit products include savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The company’s loan portfolio comprises retail consumer loans, such as one-to-four-family real estate lending, home equity lines of credit, construction and land/lots, indirect auto finance, and consumer lending; and commercial loans that include commercial real estate, construction and development, and commercial and industrial loans. It also provides small business administration loans, equipment finance leases, indirect automobile loans, and municipal leases; and cash management and online/mobile banking services. As of June 30, 2021, the company operated 41 offices in North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, East Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia. HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina.