Contrasting South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) & Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF)

Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Chesapeake Financial Shares and South Plains Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chesapeake Financial Shares	0	0	0	0	0.00
South Plains Financial	0	1	5	0	2.83

South Plains Financial has a consensus target price of $46.75, indicating a potential upside of 5.25%. Given South Plains Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe South Plains Financial is more favorable than Chesapeake Financial Shares.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chesapeake Financial Shares and South Plains Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chesapeake Financial Shares	$102.27 million	1.58	$10.00 million	$2.13	16.08
South Plains Financial	$205.79 million	3.53	$58.47 million	$3.44	12.91

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

Risk & Volatility

Chesapeake Financial Shares has a beta of 0.23, suggesting that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Chesapeake Financial Shares pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays out 31.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Plains Financial pays out 19.8% 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. South Plains Financial has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.7% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of South Plains Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 39.5% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.6% of South Plains Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chesapeake Financial Shares	9.78%	14.21%	1.06%
South Plains Financial	19.69%	12.51%	1.32%

Summary

South Plains Financial beats Chesapeake Financial Shares on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chesapeake Financial Shares

Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Chesapeake Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts interest and noninterest checking, savings, and money market accounts; and variable-rate and fixed-term money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers mortgage, and single-family residential and residential construction loans; commercial loans, which include owner-occupied commercial development, retail, builders/contractors, medical, service and professional, hospitality, nonprofits, marine industry, and agricultural and seafood loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company provides merchant processing, accounts receivable financing, wealth management and trust, and mortgage banking services, as well as cash management services. The company was founded in 1900 and is based in Kilmarnock, Virginia.

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.