Financial Comparison: Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) vs. Bank of South Carolina (NASDAQ:BKSC)

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) and Bank of South Carolina (NASDAQ:BKSC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Associated Banc has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of South Carolina has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Associated Banc and Bank of South Carolina’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Associated Banc	$2.22 billion	1.51	$182.96 million	$0.99	22.36
Bank of South Carolina	$26.08 million	2.66	$5.49 million	$0.95	13.36

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

Dividends

Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Bank of South Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Associated Banc pays out 88.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bank of South Carolina pays out 71.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Bank of South Carolina is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Associated Banc and Bank of South Carolina’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Associated Banc	6.86%	8.31%	0.80%
Bank of South Carolina	19.55%	12.11%	0.83%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.0% of Associated Banc shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Bank of South Carolina shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Associated Banc shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.8% of Bank of South Carolina shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Associated Banc and Bank of South Carolina, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Associated Banc	0	6	2	0	2.25
Bank of South Carolina	0	0	0	0	N/A

Associated Banc presently has a consensus target price of $23.13, suggesting a potential upside of 4.47%. Given Associated Banc’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Associated Banc is more favorable than Bank of South Carolina.

Summary

Associated Banc beats Bank of South Carolina on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Associated Banc

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit. It also provides deposit and cash management solutions, such as commercial checking and interest-bearing deposit products, cash vault and night depository services, liquidity solutions, payables and receivables solutions, and information services; specialized financial services, such as interest rate risk management and foreign exchange solutions; fiduciary services, such as administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, fiduciary and corporate agency services, and institutional asset management services; and investable funds solutions, including savings, money market deposit accounts, IRA accounts, CDs, fixed and variable annuities, full-service, discount, and online investment brokerage; investment advisory services; and trust and investment management accounts. In addition, the company offers deposit and transactional solutions, including checking, credit, debit and pre-paid cards, online banking and bill pay; and money transfer services. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

About Bank of South Carolina

Bank of South Carolina Corporation operates as a bank holding company for The Bank of South Carolina that provides a range of financial products and services primarily in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties of South Carolina. Its deposits include non-interest-bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, money market accounts, time deposits, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company offers secured and unsecured commercial loans, commercial real estate construction loans, consumer construction loans, home equity lines of credit, and mortgage originations, as well as paycheck protection program loans. It operates five banking house locations. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina.