WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) and Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Head to Head Review

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Southern First Bancshares and WesBanco, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00
WesBanco	0	3	2	0	2.40

Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 51.72%. WesBanco has a consensus price target of $30.60, suggesting a potential upside of 5.12%. Given Southern First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than WesBanco.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and WesBanco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	6.69%	4.30%	0.33%
WesBanco	17.52%	6.50%	0.87%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and WesBanco’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern First Bancshares	$187.46 million	1.26	$13.43 million	$1.64	17.68
WesBanco	$831.96 million	2.08	$159.03 million	$2.40	12.13

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

Summary

WesBanco beats Southern First Bancshares on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans; construction real estate loans; commercial business loans for various lines of businesses, such as the manufacturing, service industry, and professional service areas; consumer real estate and home equity loans; and other consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment loans and revolving lines of credit. In addition, the company provides other bank services, such as internet banking, cash management, safe deposit boxes, direct deposit, automatic drafts, bill payment, and mobile banking services. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. It offers commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans; retail loans, such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and loans for other consumer purposes; installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as home equity installment loans, unsecured home improvement loans, and revolving lines of credit; and various non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services. The company also provides trust services; and various alternative investment products, including mutual funds and annuities. In addition, it acts as an agency that specializes in property, casualty, life, and title insurance, as well as benefit plan sales and administration to personal and commercial clients; provides broker dealer and discount brokerage services; holds investment securities and loans; and holds and leases commercial real estate properties, as well as acts as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds. WesBanco, Inc. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia.