Auburn National Bancorporation (NASDAQ:AUBN) vs. South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK) Head-To-Head Analysis

South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK) and Auburn National Bancorporation (NASDAQ:AUBN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares South Atlantic Bancshares and Auburn National Bancorporation”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
South Atlantic Bancshares	$102.25 million	1.75	$17.08 million	$2.25	10.45
Auburn National Bancorporation	$43.89 million	1.91	$7.26 million	$2.27	10.60

South Atlantic Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Auburn National Bancorporation. South Atlantic Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Auburn National Bancorporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

South Atlantic Bancshares has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Auburn National Bancorporation has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for South Atlantic Bancshares and Auburn National Bancorporation, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
South Atlantic Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00
Auburn National Bancorporation	0	1	0	0	2.00

Profitability

This table compares South Atlantic Bancshares and Auburn National Bancorporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
South Atlantic Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
Auburn National Bancorporation	17.79%	8.78%	0.78%

Dividends

South Atlantic Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Auburn National Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. South Atlantic Bancshares pays out 4.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Auburn National Bancorporation pays out 47.6% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.3% of South Atlantic Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.5% of Auburn National Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.7% of Auburn National Bancorporation shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Auburn National Bancorporation beats South Atlantic Bancshares on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About South Atlantic Bancshares

South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for South Atlantic Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations in South Carolina. The company offers checking, money market, and saving accounts, as well as certificate of deposit, individual retirement, and health saving accounts; personal, auto, and recreation loans, as well as home equity and ready reserve overdraft line of credits, and commercial lending products; and credit cards. It also provides cash management and merchant card services; remote deposit capture and automated clearing house services; online, mobile, and telephone banking services; personal and business checks; mortgage products and services; and wealth management services. The company operates offices in Myrtle Beach, Carolina Forest, North Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Charleston, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and Beaufort, South Carolina. South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

About Auburn National Bancorporation

Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for AuburnBank that provides various banking products and services in East Alabama. The company offers checking, savings, and transaction deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, financial, agricultural, real estate construction, and consumer loan products; and other financial services. In addition, the company offers automated teller services; debit cards; online banking, bill payment, and other electronic banking services; and safe deposit boxes. Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Auburn, Alabama.