Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK) & Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) Critical Analysis

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

Dividends

Southern States Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Southern States Bancshares pays out 10.1% 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Southern States Bancshares and Chemung Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern States Bancshares	$94.58 million	3.35	$31.95 million	$3.55	9.02
Chemung Financial	$94.12 million	2.27	$25.00 million	$4.52	9.91

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Southern States Bancshares and Chemung Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern States Bancshares	0	0	2	0	3.00
Chemung Financial	0	2	0	0	2.00

Southern States Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $35.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.90%. Chemung Financial has a consensus price target of $58.50, indicating a potential upside of 30.58%. Given Chemung Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Chemung Financial is more favorable than Southern States Bancshares.

Volatility & Risk

Southern States Bancshares has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.7% of Southern States Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 14.8% of Southern States Bancshares 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, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern States Bancshares	19.33%	14.11%	1.28%
Chemung Financial	14.56%	10.60%	0.78%

Summary

Southern States Bancshares beats Chemung Financial on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.