Reviewing Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) & Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC)

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Community Financial System’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Southern Bancorp	20.72%	10.83%	1.22%
Community Financial System	21.79%	11.47%	1.32%

Volatility and Risk

Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Financial System has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.8% of Community Financial System shares are held by institutional investors. 29.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Community Financial System shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Great Southern Bancorp and Community Financial System, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Southern Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
Community Financial System	0	4	1	1	2.50

Great Southern Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $74.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.09%. Community Financial System has a consensus price target of $71.50, indicating a potential upside of 14.72%. Given Community Financial System’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Community Financial System is more favorable than Great Southern Bancorp.

Dividends

Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Financial System pays out 43.6% 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. Community Financial System has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Community Financial System is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Community Financial System”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Southern Bancorp	$342.78 million	2.51	$70.97 million	$6.02	13.09
Community Financial System	$1.01 billion	3.24	$210.46 million	$4.31	14.46

Community Financial System has higher revenue and earnings than Great Southern Bancorp. Great Southern Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Community Financial System, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Community Financial System beats Great Southern Bancorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

About Community Financial System

Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and check credit lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management services; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that provides personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it offers contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration and benefit consulting, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, and health and welfare consulting services; and act as an investor in residential and commercial real estate activities. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and insurance and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.