Comparing Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) & SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB)

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) and Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for SouthState and Chemung Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SouthState	0	3	6	0	2.67
Chemung Financial	0	2	0	0	2.00

SouthState presently has a consensus target price of $112.56, indicating a potential upside of 15.52%. Chemung Financial has a consensus target price of $58.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.44%. Given Chemung Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Chemung Financial is more favorable than SouthState.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.8% of SouthState shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of SouthState shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Chemung Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

SouthState has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SouthState and Chemung Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SouthState	$1.65 billion	4.51	$494.31 million	$6.48	15.04
Chemung Financial	$94.12 million	2.42	$25.00 million	$4.52	10.57

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

Dividends

SouthState pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. SouthState pays out 33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemung Financial pays out 27.4% 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. SouthState has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Chemung Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares SouthState and Chemung Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SouthState	21.24%	9.41%	1.17%
Chemung Financial	14.56%	10.60%	0.78%

Summary

SouthState beats Chemung Financial on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SouthState

SouthState Corporation operates as the bank holding company for SouthState Bank, National Association that provides a range of banking services and products to individuals and companies. It offers checking accounts, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and other time deposits, as well as bond accounting, asset/liability consulting related activities, and other clearing and corporate checking account services. The company also offers commercial real estate loans, residential real estate loans, commercial, and industrial loans, as well as consumer loans, including auto, boat, and personal installment, as well as business, agriculture, real estate-secured (mortgage), home improvement, and manufactured housing loans. In addition, it provides debit card, mobile services, funds transfer products and services, and treasury management services comprising merchant, automated clearing house, lock-box, remote deposit capture, and other treasury services, as well as asset and wealth management, and other fiduciary and private banking services. Further, the company offers safe deposit boxes, bank money orders, wire transfer, brokerage services, and alternative investment products, including annuities, mutual funds, and trust management services; and credit cards, letters of credit, and home equity lines of credit. The company also serves its customers through online, mobile, and telephone banking platforms. The company was formerly known as First Financial Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to SouthState Corporation in July 2013. SouthState Corporation was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida.

About Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts. It also offers commercial and agricultural loans comprising loans to small to mid-sized businesses; commercial and residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including home equity lines of credit and home equity term loans. In addition, the company provides interest rate swaps, letters of credit, employee benefit plans, insurance products, mutual fund, brokerage, and tax preparation services. Further, it offers guardian, custodian, trustee, investment, pension, estate planning, and employee benefit administrative services, as well as acts as an agent for pension, profit-sharing, and other employee benefit trusts. Chemung Financial Corporation was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in Elmira, New York.