Solera National Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SLRK) and Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Head-To-Head Analysis

Solera National Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SLRK) and Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solera National Bancorp	26.93%	N/A	N/A
Lakeland Financial	25.81%	14.79%	1.57%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Solera National Bancorp and Lakeland Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solera National Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lakeland Financial	0	3	1	0	2.25

Lakeland Financial has a consensus target price of $66.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.68%. Given Lakeland Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lakeland Financial is more favorable than Solera National Bancorp.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solera National Bancorp	$83.83 million	1.02	$23.02 million	$5.82	3.40
Lakeland Financial	$421.71 million	3.58	$103.36 million	$4.27	14.20

Lakeland Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Solera National Bancorp. Solera National 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.

Risk and Volatility

Solera National Bancorp has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.4% of Solera National Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Lakeland Financial beats Solera National Bancorp on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solera National Bancorp

Solera National Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Solera National Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services in the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, time and demand deposits, and individual retirement accounts (IRA), as well as certificates of deposit; and real estate secured loans, construction loans, small business administration loans, business lines of credit, and equipment financing. It also provides online banking, account analysis, combined account analysis, commercial sweep, remote deposit, ACH origination, payroll direct deposit, merchant, business debit card, and cash management services. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Lakewood, Colorado.

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.