Chain Bridge Bancorp (NYSE:CBNA) vs. Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Head-To-Head Analysis

Chain Bridge Bancorp (NYSE:CBNA) and Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Chain Bridge Bancorp and Southern First Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chain Bridge Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Southern First Bancshares	7.28%	4.85%	0.38%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Chain Bridge Bancorp and Southern First Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chain Bridge Bancorp	0	1	1	1	3.00
Southern First Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Chain Bridge Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $29.67, indicating a potential upside of 11.03%. Given Chain Bridge Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Chain Bridge Bancorp is more favorable than Southern First Bancshares.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chain Bridge Bancorp and Southern First Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chain Bridge Bancorp	$57.24 million	3.06	N/A	N/A	N/A
Southern First Bancshares	$98.52 million	3.01	$15.53 million	$2.26	16.06

Southern First Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Chain Bridge Bancorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.9% of Chain Bridge Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Chain Bridge Bancorp beats Southern First Bancshares on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chain Bridge Bancorp

Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc. operates as a Delaware-chartered bank holding company for Chain Bridge Bank, National Association that provides commercial and personal banking, and trust services in the United States. Its deposit products include non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts. The company’s loan portfolio comprises of residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, and consumer loans. It also provides treasury management, payments, trusts and estate administration, wealth management, and asset custody services. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans; construction real estate loans; commercial business loans for various lines of businesses, such as the manufacturing, service industry, and professional service areas; consumer real estate and home equity loans; and other consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment loans and revolving lines of credit. In addition, the company provides other bank services, such as internet banking, cash management, safe deposit boxes, direct deposit, automatic drafts, bill payment, and mobile banking services. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.