Reviewing Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) & Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI)

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Community Trust Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	15.47%	7.07%	0.98%
Community Trust Bancorp	24.85%	12.42%	1.57%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.2% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Community Trust Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	$652.63 million	4.83	$144.88 million	$1.60	20.17
Community Trust Bancorp	$290.63 million	4.04	$98.06 million	$5.71	11.34

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

Risk & Volatility

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Community Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 47.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Trust Bancorp pays out 37.1% 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. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Community Trust Bancorp has increased its dividend for 44 consecutive years. Community Trust Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and Community Trust Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0	4	3	0	2.43
Community Trust Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida currently has a consensus price target of $31.90, indicating a potential downside of 1.15%. Community Trust Bancorp has a consensus price target of $63.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.95%. Given Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is more favorable than Community Trust Bancorp.

Summary

Community Trust Bancorp beats Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of integrated financial services. It provides banking and investment services to businesses and consumers, including personal and business deposit products, Internet and mobile banking, personal, commercial and mortgage loans, wealth management services, and treasury management solutions. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Stuart, FL.

About Community Trust Bancorp

Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Trust Bank, Inc. that engages in the provision of commercial and personal banking, and trust and wealth management services to small and mid-sized communities in eastern, northeastern, central, and south-central Kentucky, as well as southern West Virginia, and northeastern Tennessee. The company accepts time and demand deposits, checking accounts, savings accounts and savings certificates, individual retirement accounts and Keogh plans, and money market accounts. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, construction, mortgage, and personal loans; lease-financing, lines of credit, revolving lines of credit, and term loans, as well as other specialized loans, including asset-based financing; residential and commercial real estate loans; and consumer loans. The company also provides cash management, renting safe deposit boxes, and funds transfer services; issues letters of credit; and acts as a trustee of personal trusts, executor of estates, trustee for employee benefit trusts, and paying agent for bond and stock issues, as well as an investment agent and depositor for securities. In addition, it offers securities brokerage services; debit cards; annuity and life insurance products; and repurchase agreements, as well as mobile, internet banking, and e-statement services. The company was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Pikeville, Kentucky.