Financial Institutions (FISI) Competitors

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) and Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, community ranking and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in LKFN or FISI?

Lakeland Financial received 75 more outperform votes than Financial Institutions when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 57.75% of users gave Financial Institutions an outperform vote while only 56.52% of users gave Lakeland Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lakeland Financial	Outperform Votes 373 56.52%	Underperform Votes 287 43.48%
Financial Institutions	Outperform Votes 298 57.75%	Underperform Votes 218 42.25%

Which has more volatility & risk, LKFN or FISI?

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Financial Institutions has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is LKFN or FISI more profitable?

Lakeland Financial has a net margin of 21.74% compared to Financial Institutions' net margin of -6.69%. Lakeland Financial's return on equity of 13.31% beat Financial Institutions' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	21.74%	13.31%	1.35%
Financial Institutions	-6.69%	11.12%	0.81%

Does the media refer more to LKFN or FISI?

In the previous week, Financial Institutions had 3 more articles in the media than Lakeland Financial. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Financial Institutions and 5 mentions for Lakeland Financial. Lakeland Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat Financial Institutions' score of -0.05 indicating that Lakeland Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lakeland Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Financial Institutions	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in LKFN or FISI?

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.5% of Financial Institutions shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Financial Institutions shares are held by 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.

Is LKFN or FISI a better dividend stock?

Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Financial Institutions pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Lakeland Financial pays out 55.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Financial Institutions pays out -85.5% 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. Lakeland Financial has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Financial Institutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, LKFN or FISI?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Financial	$253.52M	6.45	$93.48M	$3.63	17.63
Financial Institutions	$114.53M	3.61	-$24.52M	-$1.45	-18.40

Do analysts rate LKFN or FISI?

Lakeland Financial currently has a consensus price target of $74.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.60%. Financial Institutions has a consensus price target of $33.33, indicating a potential upside of 24.92%. Given Financial Institutions' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Financial Institutions is more favorable than Lakeland Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Financial Institutions	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

Lakeland Financial beats Financial Institutions on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.