Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) and Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Fifth Third Bancorp and Camden National's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Fifth Third Bancorp | 17.50% | 7.52% | 0.80% |
| Camden National | 27.17% | 11.37% | 1.18% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Fifth Third Bancorp and Camden National's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Fifth Third Bancorp | $9.79 billion | 2.63 | $2.51 billion | $2.77 | 13.05 |
| Camden National | $210.63 million | 3.05 | $57.20 million | $3.69 | 11.66 |
Fifth Third Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Camden National. Camden National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fifth Third Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
79.2% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.8% of Camden National shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Camden National shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility & Risk
Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Camden National has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Fifth Third Bancorp and Camden National, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Fifth Third Bancorp | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 2.67 |
| Camden National | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $29.1528, indicating a potential downside of 18.86%. Camden National has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.16%. Given Camden National's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Camden National is more favorable than Fifth Third Bancorp.
Dividends
Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Camden National pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 39.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Camden National pays out 35.8% 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. Fifth Third Bancorp has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Camden National has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Camden National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
Camden National beats Fifth Third Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
