Head-To-Head Analysis: Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS) & Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS) and Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Intercorp Financial Services and Sierra Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intercorp Financial Services	$1.67 billion	3.13	$542.25 million	$5.47	8.59
Sierra Bancorp	$148.32 million	3.66	$42.33 million	$3.88	10.80

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Intercorp Financial Services and Sierra Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intercorp Financial Services	0	2	1	0	2.33
Sierra Bancorp	0	2	2	1	2.80

Intercorp Financial Services currently has a consensus target price of $62.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.94%. Sierra Bancorp has a consensus target price of $43.75, suggesting a potential upside of 4.42%. Given Intercorp Financial Services’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Intercorp Financial Services is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Risk & Volatility

Intercorp Financial Services has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Intercorp Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Intercorp Financial Services pays out 31.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sierra Bancorp pays out 27.8% 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. Intercorp Financial Services has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Sierra Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Intercorp Financial Services and Sierra Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intercorp Financial Services	34.81%	17.06%	2.10%
Sierra Bancorp	25.32%	13.86%	1.34%

About Intercorp Financial Services

Intercorp Financial Services Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers banking, insurance, wealth management, and payment services for retail and commercial clients in Peru. The company provides loans, credit facilities, deposits, and current accounts; life annuity products with single-premium payment and conventional life insurance products, as well as other retail insurance products; and brokerage and investment management services. It engages in the development, management, operation, and processing of credit and debit cards; facilitation of payments and services through commercial stores; and installation and maintenance of infrastructure for transactions through electronic commerce modality and networks of payment methods processors. The company was incorporated in 1897 and is based in Lima, Peru. Intercorp Financial Services Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Intercorp Perú Ltd.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts. The company's loan products include agricultural, commercial, consumer, real estate, construction, and mortgage loans. It also offers automated teller machines; electronic point-of-sale payment alternatives; online and automated telephone banking services; and remote deposit capture and automated payroll services for business customers. Sierra Bancorp was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Porterville, California.