Head-To-Head Comparison: Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBK) versus Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) and Origin Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Lakeland Financial and Origin Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	22.85%	13.64%	1.37%
Origin Bancorp	12.34%	6.91%	0.77%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Lakeland Financial and Origin Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
Origin Bancorp	0	1	3	1	3.00

Lakeland Financial presently has a consensus price target of $74.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.66%. Origin Bancorp has a consensus price target of $42.80, indicating a potential upside of 9.91%. Given Origin Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Origin Bancorp is more favorable than Lakeland Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lakeland Financial and Origin Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Financial	$393.12 million	4.54	$93.77 million	$3.85	18.19
Origin Bancorp	$619.96 million	1.96	$83.80 million	$2.46	15.83

Lakeland Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Origin Bancorp. Origin Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lakeland Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Origin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Lakeland Financial pays out 49.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Origin Bancorp pays out 24.4% 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Origin Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Origin Bancorp has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Summary

Lakeland Financial beats Origin Bancorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and multi-family residential, construction, agri-business and agricultural, consumer 1-4 family mortgage, and other commercial and consumer loans. The company also provides retail and merchant credit card services; corporate treasury management, wealth advisory, and trust services; retail brokerage services, including various financial and investment products, such as annuities and life insurance; and mobile business banking and on-line treasury management services. It serves commercial real estate, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, wholesale, finance and insurance, accommodation and food services, and health care industries. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.

About Origin Bancorp

Origin Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Origin Bank that provides banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, and retail clients in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It offers noninterest and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, money market accounts, and time deposits; and offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, consumer, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, mortgage warehouse, and residential mortgage loans. The company also offers personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance products; and Internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, U.S. savings bonds, and automatic account transfer services; and mobile and online banking, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing facilities, peer-to-peer electronic pay solutions, and personal financial management solutions. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana.