Reviewing Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) and Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG)

Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) and Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Dividends

Flagstar Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Flagstar Financial pays out -0.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays out 21.1% 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. Southern Missouri Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Southern Missouri Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.9% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.6% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Flagstar Financial and Southern Missouri Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flagstar Financial	$2.93 billion	1.28	-$79.00 million	($4.36)	-2.08
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$166.92 million	3.95	$50.18 million	$4.35	13.46

Southern Missouri Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Flagstar Financial. Flagstar Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern Missouri Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Flagstar Financial and Southern Missouri Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flagstar Financial	0	2	0	0	2.00
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	1	2	0	2.67

Flagstar Financial presently has a consensus target price of $11.75, suggesting a potential upside of 29.83%. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a consensus target price of $63.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.64%. Given Flagstar Financial’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Flagstar Financial is more favorable than Southern Missouri Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Flagstar Financial and Southern Missouri Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flagstar Financial	-18.40%	-11.35%	-0.78%
Southern Missouri Bancorp	17.44%	10.18%	1.06%

Risk & Volatility

Flagstar Financial has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Southern Missouri Bancorp beats Flagstar Financial on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flagstar Financial

Flagstar Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Flagstar Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company’s deposit products include interest-bearing checking and money market, savings, non-interest-bearing, and retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise multi-family loans; commercial real estate loans; acquisition, development, and construction loans; commercial and industrial loans; one-to-four family loans; specialty finance loans and leases; warehouse loans; and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, boat and recreational vehicle indirect lending, point of sale consumer loans, and other consumer loans, including overdraft loans. The company offers cash management products; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and online banking, mobile banking, and bank-by-phone services. It primarily serves individuals, small and mid-size businesses, and professional associations. The company was formerly known as New York Community Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Flagstar Financial, Inc. in October 2024. Flagstar Financial, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Hicksville, New York.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts. It also provides loans, such as residential mortgage, commercial real estate, construction, and commercial business loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity, direct and indirect automobile loans, second mortgages, mobile home loans, and loans secured by deposits. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment management services; commercial and consumer insurance; online and mobile banking services; and debit or credit cards. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.