Head to Head Contrast: Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) & Hilltop (NYSE:HTH)

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and Hilltop, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	0	3	2	0	2.40
Hilltop	1	2	0	0	1.67

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida currently has a consensus price target of $28.70, indicating a potential upside of 3.72%. Hilltop has a consensus price target of $34.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.35%. Given Hilltop’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hilltop is more favorable than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida.

Risk & Volatility

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hilltop has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and Hilltop’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	14.55%	5.44%	0.78%
Hilltop	6.65%	4.90%	0.66%

Dividends

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays out 52.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hilltop pays out 41.7% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and Hilltop”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	$510.68 million	4.63	$104.03 million	$1.38	20.05
Hilltop	$1.11 billion	1.70	$109.65 million	$1.63	17.88

Hilltop has higher revenue and earnings than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida. Hilltop is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 29.3% of Hilltop shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida beats Hilltop on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida operates as the bank holding company for Seacoast National Bank that provides integrated financial services to retail and commercial customers in Florida. The company offers noninterest and interest-bearing demand deposit, money market, savings, and customer sweep accounts; time certificates of deposit; construction and land development, commercial and residential real estate, and commercial and financial loans; and consumer loans, including installment loans and revolving lines, as well as loans for automobiles, boats, and personal and family purposes. It also provides wealth management, mortgage, and insurance services through online and mobile banking solutions, as well as brokerage and annuity services. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Stuart, Florida.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc. provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance. It also provides treasury management, asset management, check cards, safe deposit boxes, online banking, bill pay, and overdraft privilege services; and estate planning, management and administration, investment portfolio management, employee benefit accounts, and individual retirement accounts services, as well as automated teller machines. The Broker-Dealer segment offers public finance services that assist public entities in originating, syndicating, and distributing securities of municipalities and political subdivisions; specialized advisory and investment banking services; advice and guidance to arbitrage rebate compliance, portfolio management, and local government investment pool administration; advisory services and products for derivatives and commodities; agricultural insurance; and sells, trades in, and underwrites U.S. government and government agency bonds, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds; mortgage-backed, asset-backed, and commercial mortgage-backed securities and structured products; and provides asset and liability management advisory, clearing, retail, and securities lending services. The Mortgage Origination segment offers fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, jumbo, new construction, Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, and United States Department of Agriculture loans. Hilltop Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Dallas, Texas.