Contrasting Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:DB) & Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK)

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:DB) and Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft and Southern States Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft	0	2	2	0	2.50
Southern States Bancshares	0	0	2	0	3.00

Southern States Bancshares has a consensus price target of $35.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.26%. Given Southern States Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Southern States Bancshares is more favorable than Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft and Southern States Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft	$29.49 billion	1.18	$6.85 billion	$2.29	7.35
Southern States Bancshares	$94.58 million	2.93	$31.95 million	$3.60	8.63

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft has higher revenue and earnings than Southern States Bancshares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern States Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern States Bancshares has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

27.9% of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.7% of Southern States Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.8% of Southern States Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Southern States Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft pays out 9.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern States Bancshares pays out 10.0% 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft and Southern States Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft	5.58%	4.63%	0.26%
Southern States Bancshares	19.33%	14.88%	1.32%

Summary

Southern States Bancshares beats Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, a stock corporation, provides corporate and investment banking, and asset management products and services to private individuals, corporate entities, and institutional clients in Germany, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through Corporate Bank, Investment Bank, Private Bank, and Asset Management segments. The Corporate Bank segment offers cash management, trade finance and lending, trust and agency, and securities services, as well as risk management solutions. The Investment Bank segment provides debt origination, merger and acquisitions, foreign exchange, and equity advisory and origination platform services. The Private Bank segment offers payment and account services, and credit and deposit products, as well as investment advice products, such as environmental, social, and governance products. This segment also provides banking, wealth management, other financial, and postal and parcel services; and supports in planning, managing and investing wealth, financing personal and business interests, and servicing institutional and corporate needs. The Asset Management segment offers investment solutions, such as alternative investments, which include real estate, infrastructure, liquid real assets, and sustainable investments; and various other services, including insurance and pension solutions, asset liability management, portfolio management solutions, and asset allocation advisory to individuals and institutions. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

About Southern States Bancshares

Southern States Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern States Bank that provides community banking services to businesses and individuals. The company provides various deposit products, such as savings, money market, and noninterest-bearing demand accounts; certificates of deposit; and time deposits. It offers real estate loan products, including loans for real estate construction and development, residential mortgages, and commercial real estate mortgage loans; commercial and industrial loans; and direct consumer installment loans, overdrafts, and other revolving credit loans. In addition, it offers online and mobile banking, and ATM services. Southern States Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Anniston, Alabama.