Head-To-Head Survey: WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) versus Southern Banc (OTCMKTS:SRNN)

Southern Banc (OTCMKTS:SRNN) and WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Southern Banc and WSFS Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Banc	8.42%	6.13%	0.84%
WSFS Financial	22.55%	11.23%	1.43%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Southern Banc and WSFS Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Banc	$12.13 million	1.06	$920,000.00	$1.40	11.43
WSFS Financial	$1.36 billion	3.04	$287.35 million	$5.62	14.14

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.5% of WSFS Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.0% of Southern Banc shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of WSFS Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Southern Banc has a beta of -0.06, indicating that its share price is 106% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WSFS Financial has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Southern Banc and WSFS Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Banc	0	0	0	0	0.00
WSFS Financial	0	4	4	0	2.50

WSFS Financial has a consensus target price of $77.07, indicating a potential downside of 3.01%. Given WSFS Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe WSFS Financial is more favorable than Southern Banc.

Summary

WSFS Financial beats Southern Banc on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern Banc

The Southern Banc Company, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Southern Bank company that provides various banking products and services in Alabama. The company’s personal banking products include checking accounts, home mortgage loans, home equity loans, auto loans, and personal loans. Its business banking products comprise business checking accounts, cash flow management, real estate lending, and equipment financing. The Southern Banc Company, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is based in Gadsden, Alabama.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities. The company also provides a range of loans, which comprise fixed and adjustable rate residential loans; commercial mortgage and commercial loans; commercial construction loans; commercial loans for working capital, financing equipment and real estate acquisitions, business expansion and other business purposes; and consumer credit products, such as home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans, unsecured lines of credit, and other secured and unsecured personal installment loans. In addition, it offers insurance products; planning and advisory services, investment management, trust services, and credit and deposit products to individual, corporate and institutional clients; retail securities and insurance brokerage services; mortgage and title services; residential mortgage and refinancing solutions; and leases small equipment and fixed assets, as well as provides financial planning, customized investment strategies, brokerage products, fiduciary, and wealth management services. Further, the company provides ATM vault cash, smart safe, and other cash logistics services; and online reporting and ATM cash management, predictive cash ordering and reconcilement services, armored carrier management, loss protection, and deposit safe cash logistics services, as well as trustee, agency, bankruptcy administration, custodial and commercial domicile services. The company was founded in 1832 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.