Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) versus U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Critical Review

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	6.67%	4.42%	0.34%
U.S. Bancorp	12.92%	12.91%	0.96%

Risk & Volatility

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Southern First Bancshares and U.S. Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00
U.S. Bancorp	0	10	9	0	2.47

Southern First Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.92%. U.S. Bancorp has a consensus price target of $53.68, indicating a potential upside of 10.69%. Given Southern First Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than U.S. Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Southern First Bancshares and U.S. Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern First Bancshares	$89.52 million	3.62	$13.43 million	$1.73	22.93
U.S. Bancorp	$27.09 billion	2.79	$5.43 billion	$3.27	14.83

U.S. Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Southern First Bancshares. U.S. Bancorp 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

U.S. Bancorp 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 U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments. The company offers depository services, including checking accounts, savings accounts, and time certificate contracts; and lending services, such as traditional credit products and credit card services, lease financing and import/export trade, asset-backed lending, agricultural finance, and other products. It also provides ancillary services comprising capital markets, treasury management, and receivable lock-box collection services to corporate and governmental entity customers. In addition, the company offers asset management and fiduciary services for individuals, estates, foundations, business corporations, and charitable organizations. Further, it provides investment and insurance products to its customers principally within its domestic markets, as well as fund administration services to mutual and other funds. Additionally, the company provides corporate and purchasing card, and corporate trust services. Furthermore, it offers trust and investment management, merchant and ATM processing, mortgage banking, insurance, and brokerage and leasing services. U.S. Bancorp was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.