Head to Head Comparison: Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI)

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) and South Plains Financial (NASDAQ:SPFI) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Citizens Financial Group and South Plains Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citizens Financial Group	$12.06 billion	2.48	$1.83 billion	$4.61	15.38
South Plains Financial	$296.89 million	2.87	$58.47 million	$3.67	12.30

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Citizens Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.9% of South Plains Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Citizens Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.3% of South Plains Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Citizens Financial Group and South Plains Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Financial Group	17.18%	8.85%	0.93%
South Plains Financial	20.79%	12.36%	1.37%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Citizens Financial Group and South Plains Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Group	0	4	16	0	2.80
South Plains Financial	0	1	6	0	2.86

Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus price target of $79.25, suggesting a potential upside of 11.75%. South Plains Financial has a consensus price target of $49.60, suggesting a potential upside of 9.84%. Given Citizens Financial Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Citizens Financial Group is more favorable than South Plains Financial.

Dividends

Citizens Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. South Plains Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Citizens Financial Group pays out 39.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. South Plains Financial pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. South Plains Financial has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Citizens Financial Group has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, South Plains Financial has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Citizens Financial Group beats South Plains Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending products, credit cards, business loans, wealth management, and investment services; and auto, education, and point-of-sale finance loans, as well as digital deposit products. This segment serves its customers through telephone service centers, as well as through its online and mobile platforms. The Commercial Banking segment provides various financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as syndicated loans, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets services. This segment serves corporate banking, healthcare, technology, asset finance, franchise finance, leasing, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, mid-corporate, and private equity sponsor industries. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

About South Plains Financial

South Plains Financial, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for City Bank that provides commercial and consumer financial services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It offers deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, interest-bearing products, savings accounts, and certificate of deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; general and specialized commercial loans, including agricultural production and real estate, energy, finance, investment, and insurance loans, as well as loans to goods, services, restaurant and retail, construction, and other industries; residential construction loans; and 1-4 family residential loans, auto loans, and other loans for recreational vehicles or other purposes. In addition, it offers crop insurance products; trust products and services; investment services; mortgage banking services; online and mobile banking services; and debit and credit cards. The company was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Lubbock, Texas.