Contrasting Old Point Financial (NASDAQ:OPOF) and Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR)

Old Point Financial (NASDAQ:OPOF) and Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Dividends

Old Point Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Sandy Spring Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Old Point Financial pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sandy Spring Bancorp pays out 302.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Old Point Financial and Sandy Spring Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Point Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sandy Spring Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00

Sandy Spring Bancorp has a consensus target price of $31.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.02%. Given Sandy Spring Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sandy Spring Bancorp is more favorable than Old Point Financial.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Old Point Financial and Sandy Spring Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Point Financial	$62.72 million	3.20	$9.51 million	$1.96	20.05
Sandy Spring Bancorp	$404.22 million	3.11	$19.93 million	$0.45	61.93

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

33.4% of Old Point Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.9% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 21.1% of Old Point Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Sandy Spring Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Old Point Financial and Sandy Spring Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Point Financial	11.08%	8.56%	0.66%
Sandy Spring Bancorp	2.65%	5.31%	0.61%

Volatility and Risk

Old Point Financial has a beta of -0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 130% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sandy Spring Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sandy Spring Bancorp beats Old Point Financial on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Old Point Financial

Old Point Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for The Old Point National Bank of Phoebus that provides consumer, mortgage, and business banking services for individual and commercial customers in Virginia. It offers deposit products, including interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and demand deposits. The company also provides real estate construction, commercial, and mortgage loans, such as residential 1-4 family mortgages, second mortgages, and equity lines of credit; and other loans. In addition, it offers retirement planning, estate planning, financial planning, estate and trust administration, retirement plan administration, tax, and investment management services; and insurance products, wealth management, and cash management services. Old Point Financial Corporation was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Hampton, Virginia.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products. Its loan products include commercial real estate loans, construction loans, and business loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines, installment loans, and personal lines of credit. The company provides investment management, financial planning, and wealth management services. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Olney, Maryland.