CASH vs. WABC, NWBI, FCF, HOPE, NIC, PFS, CHCO, TBBK, WSBC, and SASR
Should you be buying Pathward Financial stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Pathward Financial include Westamerica Bancorporation (WABC), Northwest Bancshares (NWBI), First Commonwealth Financial (FCF), Hope Bancorp (HOPE), Nicolet Bankshares (NIC), Provident Financial Services (PFS), City (CHCO), Bancorp (TBBK), WesBanco (WSBC), and Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector.
Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) and Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment and risk.
In the previous week, Pathward Financial had 1 more articles in the media than Westamerica Bancorporation. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Pathward Financial and 3 mentions for Westamerica Bancorporation. Pathward Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Westamerica Bancorporation's score of 0.80 indicating that Pathward Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Pathward Financial received 92 more outperform votes than Westamerica Bancorporation when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.95% of users gave Pathward Financial an outperform vote while only 50.42% of users gave Westamerica Bancorporation an outperform vote.
Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Westamerica Bancorporation has a net margin of 48.35% compared to Pathward Financial's net margin of 22.90%. Pathward Financial's return on equity of 25.09% beat Westamerica Bancorporation's return on equity.
Pathward Financial presently has a consensus target price of $63.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.69%. Westamerica Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $53.50, suggesting a potential upside of 8.10%. Given Pathward Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than Westamerica Bancorporation.
Pathward Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Westamerica Bancorporation. Pathward Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westamerica Bancorporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Pathward Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Pathward Financial pays out 3.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 29.7% 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.
Summary
Pathward Financial beats Westamerica Bancorporation on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding CASH and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartThis chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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