Critical Survey: TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) versus SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB)

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) and TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for SouthState and TrustCo Bank Corp NY, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SouthState	0	3	6	0	2.67
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	0	0	0.00

SouthState currently has a consensus price target of $112.56, suggesting a potential upside of 12.78%. Given SouthState’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SouthState is more favorable than TrustCo Bank Corp NY.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.8% of SouthState shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of SouthState shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

SouthState pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. SouthState pays out 33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 57.6% 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. SouthState has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

SouthState has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares SouthState and TrustCo Bank Corp NY’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SouthState	21.24%	9.41%	1.17%
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	18.24%	7.24%	0.77%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SouthState and TrustCo Bank Corp NY”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SouthState	$2.23 billion	3.41	$494.31 million	$6.48	15.40
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$244.52 million	2.50	$58.65 million	$2.50	12.89

SouthState has higher revenue and earnings than TrustCo Bank Corp NY. TrustCo Bank Corp NY is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SouthState, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SouthState beats TrustCo Bank Corp NY on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SouthState

SouthState Corporation operates as the bank holding company for SouthState Bank, National Association that provides a range of banking services and products to individuals and companies. It offers checking accounts, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and other time deposits, as well as bond accounting, asset/liability consulting related activities, and other clearing and corporate checking account services. The company also offers commercial real estate loans, residential real estate loans, commercial, and industrial loans, as well as consumer loans, including auto, boat, and personal installment, as well as business, agriculture, real estate-secured (mortgage), home improvement, and manufactured housing loans. In addition, it provides debit card, mobile services, funds transfer products and services, and treasury management services comprising merchant, automated clearing house, lock-box, remote deposit capture, and other treasury services, as well as asset and wealth management, and other fiduciary and private banking services. Further, the company offers safe deposit boxes, bank money orders, wire transfer, brokerage services, and alternative investment products, including annuities, mutual funds, and trust management services; and credit cards, letters of credit, and home equity lines of credit. The company also serves its customers through online, mobile, and telephone banking platforms. The company was formerly known as First Financial Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to SouthState Corporation in July 2013. SouthState Corporation was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida.

About TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY operates as the holding company for Trustco Bank, a federal savings bank that provides personal and business banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts deposits; and offers loans and investments. It also operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, holds, and manages real estate mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company serves as the executor of estates and trustee of personal trusts; provides asset and wealth management, estate planning and related advice, and custodial services; and acts as trustee for various types of employee benefit plans, and corporate pension and profit-sharing trusts. It operates through banking offices in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester counties of New York; Brevard, Charlotte, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida; Bennington County in Vermont; Berkshire County in Massachusetts; and Bergen County in New Jersey, as well as automatic teller machines. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glenville, New York.