The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.
Dividends
The PNC Financial Services Group pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. The PNC Financial Services Group pays out 40.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lakeland Financial pays out 40.2% 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. The PNC Financial Services Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and Lakeland Financial's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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The PNC Financial Services Group | 38.16% | 5.97% | 0.69% |
Lakeland Financial | 33.90% | 13.31% | 1.56% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and Lakeland Financial's gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
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The PNC Financial Services Group | $21.62 billion | 3.53 | $5.37 billion | $11.39 | 15.82 |
Lakeland Financial | $260.21 million | 6.83 | $87.05 million | $3.38 | 20.40 |
The PNC Financial Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Financial. The PNC Financial Services Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lakeland Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
80.6% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.8% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Lakeland Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for The PNC Financial Services Group and Lakeland Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
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The PNC Financial Services Group | 1 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 2.30 |
Lakeland Financial | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
The PNC Financial Services Group currently has a consensus price target of $160.1176, indicating a potential downside of 11.15%. Given The PNC Financial Services Group's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe The PNC Financial Services Group is more favorable than Lakeland Financial.
Risk and Volatility
The PNC Financial Services Group has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
The PNC Financial Services Group beats Lakeland Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.