正面对比：Peoples Financial Services（纳斯达克股票代码：PFIS）和第一联合银行（纳斯达克股票代码：FUNC）

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC – Get Rating) and Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS – Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares First United and Peoples Financial Services' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Volatility & Risk

First United has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Financial Services has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.6% of First United shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.2% of Peoples Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 4.2% of First United shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Peoples Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First United and Peoples Financial Services' gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Peoples Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than First United. First United is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Peoples Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for First United and Peoples Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

First United presently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 49.16%. Peoples Financial Services has a consensus price target of $56.00, suggesting a potential upside of 36.39%. Given First United's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First United is more favorable than Peoples Financial Services.

Dividends

First United pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Peoples Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First United pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Financial Services pays out 31.1% 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. First United has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Peoples Financial Services has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. First United is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

First United beats Peoples Financial Services on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First United

(Get Rating)

First United Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in community banking services. It offers checking, savings, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, business loans, personal loans, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and consumer-oriented retirement accounts including individual retirement accounts, and employee benefit accounts through its subsidiary. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Oakland, MD.

About Peoples Financial Services

(Get Rating)

Peoples Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company. Its loan portfolio includes commercial and retail. The company was founded on February 6, 1986 and is headquartered in Scranton, PA.

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