SunTrust Banks (STI) Competitors

National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) and SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NKSH or STI?

SunTrust Banks received 653 more outperform votes than National Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.56% of users gave SunTrust Banks an outperform vote while only 50.34% of users gave National Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
National Bankshares	Outperform Votes 221 50.34%	Underperform Votes 218 49.66%
SunTrust Banks	Outperform Votes 874 63.56%	Underperform Votes 501 36.44%

Is NKSH or STI more profitable?

National Bankshares has a net margin of 11.44% compared to SunTrust Banks' net margin of 0.00%. National Bankshares' return on equity of 5.85% beat SunTrust Banks' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Bankshares	11.44%	5.85%	0.50%
SunTrust Banks	N/A	-10.88%	-17.06%

Which has better earnings and valuation, NKSH or STI?

National Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than SunTrust Banks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Bankshares	$43.84M	4.36	$15.69M	$1.45	20.73
SunTrust Banks	N/A	N/A	-$19.78M	N/A	N/A

Which has more volatility and risk, NKSH or STI?

National Bankshares has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SunTrust Banks has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NKSH or STI?

29.7% of National Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of National Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of SunTrust Banks shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor NKSH or STI?

In the previous week, National Bankshares' average media sentiment score of 0.31 beat SunTrust Banks' score of 0.00 indicating that National Bankshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
National Bankshares	Neutral
SunTrust Banks	Neutral

Do analysts prefer NKSH or STI?

National Bankshares presently has a consensus price target of $38.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.41%. Given National Bankshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe National Bankshares is more favorable than SunTrust Banks.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
SunTrust Banks	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Summary

National Bankshares beats SunTrust Banks on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.