South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI – Get Free Report) and Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares South Plains Financial and Popular’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| South Plains Financial | 20.22% | 12.58% | 1.35% |
| Popular | 20.10% | 14.53% | 1.18% |
Risk and Volatility
South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Popular has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for South Plains Financial and Popular, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| South Plains Financial | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2.83 |
| Popular | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 3.00 |
South Plains Financial currently has a consensus price target of $46.25, suggesting a potential upside of 15.39%. Popular has a consensus price target of $168.73, suggesting a potential upside of 15.65%. Given Popular’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Popular is more favorable than South Plains Financial.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares South Plains Financial and Popular”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| South Plains Financial | $296.89 million | 2.59 | $58.47 million | $3.57 | 11.23 |
| Popular | $4.44 billion | 2.12 | $833.16 million | $13.54 | 10.77 |
Popular has higher revenue and earnings than South Plains Financial. Popular is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than South Plains Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Popular pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. South Plains Financial pays out 19.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Popular pays out 22.2% 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 and Popular has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Popular is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Popular beats South Plains Financial on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Popular
Popular, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial multi-family, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage loans; consumer loans, including personal loans, credit cards, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, and other loans to individual borrowers; construction loans; and lease financing comprising automobile loans/leases. In addition, the company provides investment banking, auto and equipment leasing and financing, broker-dealer, and insurance services; debit cards; and online banking services. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
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