Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) and First Internet Bancorp (NASDAQ:INBK) Head to Head Comparison

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) and First Internet Bancorp (NASDAQ:INBK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Valley National Bancorp and First Internet Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Valley National Bancorp	0	3	12	2	2.94
First Internet Bancorp	1	3	1	0	2.00

Valley National Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $15.17, indicating a potential upside of 12.26%. First Internet Bancorp has a consensus target price of $25.67, indicating a potential upside of 8.21%. Given Valley National Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Valley National Bancorp is more favorable than First Internet Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Valley National Bancorp and First Internet Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Valley National Bancorp	18.61%	8.68%	1.01%
First Internet Bancorp	-9.60%	-1.13%	-0.07%

Dividends

Valley National Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Internet Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Valley National Bancorp pays out 39.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Internet Bancorp pays out -6.2% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Valley National Bancorp and First Internet Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Valley National Bancorp	$3.49 billion	2.15	$597.98 million	$1.11	12.17
First Internet Bancorp	$322.87 million	0.64	-$35.17 million	($3.85)	-6.16

Valley National Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Internet Bancorp. First Internet Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valley National Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.0% of Valley National Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.5% of First Internet Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Valley National Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of First Internet Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Valley National Bancorp has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Internet Bancorp has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Valley National Bancorp beats First Internet Bancorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments. The company offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; automobile financing; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans. It also invests in various securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks; and provides international banking services, such as standby and documentary letters of credit, and related products, as well as foreign exchange transactions, documentary collections, and foreign wire transfers services. In addition, the company offers investment services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses; and trusts investment strategies designed for various investment profiles and objectives. Further, it provides trust services, such as living and testamentary trusts, investment management, custodial and escrow services, and estate administration to individuals; tax credit advisory services; brokerage services; property and casualty, life, health, and title insurance agency services; and health care equipment lending and other commercial equipment leasing services, as well as owns real estate related investments. Additionally, the company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services; receivable, payment, and security solution, merchant, payroll processing, and liquidity services; credit cards; and drive-in and night deposit, automated teller machine, remote deposit capture, and safe deposit facility services. Valley National Bancorp was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey.

About First Internet Bancorp

First Internet Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Internet Bank of Indiana that provides commercial, small business, consumer, and municipal banking products and services to individuals and commercial customers in the United States. The company accepts non-interest bearing and interest-bearing demand deposit, commercial deposit, savings, money market, and Banking-as-a-Service brokered deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, owner-occupied and investor commercial real estate, construction, residential mortgage, home equity, line of credit and home improvement, small installment, term, and other consumer loans, as well as single tenant lease financing, and public and healthcare finance; franchise finance; and small business lending. In addition, the company is involved in the purchase, manage, service, and safekeeping of municipal securities; and provision of public and municipal lending and leasing products to government entities. Further, the company offers corporate credit card and treasury management services. First Internet Bancorp was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Fishers, Indiana.