Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) vs. Ponce Financial Group (NASDAQ:PDLB) Financial Review

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) and Ponce Financial Group (NASDAQ:PDLB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Southern Missouri Bancorp and Ponce Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	5	1	1	2.43
Ponce Financial Group	0	1	0	1	3.00

Southern Missouri Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $79.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.96%. Ponce Financial Group has a consensus target price of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.05%. Given Ponce Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ponce Financial Group is more favorable than Southern Missouri Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Missouri Bancorp	23.47%	13.02%	1.46%
Ponce Financial Group	16.51%	10.52%	1.02%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.3% of Ponce Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.6% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of Ponce Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Southern Missouri Bancorp and Ponce Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$316.78 million	2.51	$71.84 million	$6.78	10.66
Ponce Financial Group	$194.94 million	2.63	$28.70 million	$1.40	15.16

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

Volatility and Risk

Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ponce Financial Group has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Southern Missouri Bancorp beats Ponce Financial Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts. It also provides loans, such as residential mortgage, commercial real estate, construction, and commercial business loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity, direct and indirect automobile loans, second mortgages, mobile home loans, and loans secured by deposits. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment management services; commercial and consumer insurance; online and mobile banking services; and debit or credit cards. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

About Ponce Financial Group

Ponce Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Ponce Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers various deposit products, including demand accounts, NOW/IOLA, money market, reciprocal deposits, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit to individuals, business entities, and non-profit organizations, as well as individual retirement accounts. The company also provides real estate-secured loans, which includes one-to-four family investor-owned and owner-occupied residential; multifamily residential; nonresidential property; construction and land; commercial and industrial; and business and consumer loans, as well as lines of credit. In addition, it invests in securities, which consist of U.S. Government and federal agency securities and securities issued by government-sponsored or owned enterprises, as well as corporate securities, mortgage-backed securities, and Federal Home Loan Bank stock. Ponce Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Bronx, New York.