The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and valuation.
Risk and Volatility
The PNC Financial Services Group has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
80.6% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.2% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and Simmons First National'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 | 3.55 | $5.37 billion | $11.39 | 15.87 |
Simmons First National | $988.15 million | 3.26 | $238.17 million | $2.73 | 10.89 |
The PNC Financial Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Simmons First National. Simmons First National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The PNC Financial Services Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
The PNC Financial Services Group pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. The PNC Financial Services Group pays out 40.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out 26.4% 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 increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Simmons First National has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and Simmons First National'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% |
Simmons First National | 24.39% | 9.37% | 1.28% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for The PNC Financial Services Group and Simmons First National, as provided by MarketBeat.
| 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 |
Simmons First National | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
The PNC Financial Services Group presently has a consensus target price of $160.1176, suggesting a potential downside of 11.44%. Simmons First National has a consensus target price of $22.3333, suggesting a potential downside of 24.90%. Given The PNC Financial Services Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe The PNC Financial Services Group is more favorable than Simmons First National.
Summary
The PNC Financial Services Group beats Simmons First National on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.