Head-To-Head Analysis: Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) vs. NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG)

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) and Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares NatWest Group and Southern Missouri Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NatWest Group	19.61%	13.75%	0.80%
Southern Missouri Bancorp	23.47%	12.88%	1.45%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares NatWest Group and Southern Missouri Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NatWest Group	$38.91 billion	1.61	$7.69 billion	$2.00	7.87
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$316.78 million	2.45	$71.84 million	$6.78	10.46

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

Risk and Volatility

NatWest Group has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

NatWest Group pays an annual dividend of $0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. NatWest Group pays out 31.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays out 15.9% 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. Southern Missouri Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.3% of NatWest Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 14.6% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for NatWest Group and Southern Missouri Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NatWest Group	1	2	6	1	2.70
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	5	1	1	2.43

Southern Missouri Bancorp has a consensus target price of $79.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.07%. Given Southern Missouri Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Southern Missouri Bancorp is more favorable than NatWest Group.

Summary

Southern Missouri Bancorp beats NatWest Group on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NatWest Group

NatWest Group plc is a UK banking and financial services group headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly known as The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, it adopted the NatWest Group name in 2020. Its principal brands include NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Coutts. The group serves personal, business and institutional customers. Its services include current and savings accounts, mortgages, personal lending, business finance, payment services, private banking and wealth management.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company and the parent of Southern Bank, a community bank headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The bank’s roots date to 1887, when it was established to serve local customers in southeastern Missouri. Southern Bank provides personal and business banking services, including deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage loans, and digital banking. Its lending activities also include financing for agricultural customers.