FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) and Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) Head to Head Survey

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) and Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

FB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. FB Financial pays out 31.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pathward Financial pays out 2.4% 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. FB Financial has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. FB Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares FB Financial and Pathward Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FB Financial	$877.84 million	3.17	$122.62 million	$2.66	20.28
Pathward Financial	$851.49 million	2.05	$185.87 million	$8.42	9.80

Pathward Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than FB Financial. Pathward Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FB Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for FB Financial and Pathward Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FB Financial	0	0	5	1	3.17
Pathward Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00

FB Financial presently has a consensus target price of $64.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.62%. Pathward Financial has a consensus target price of $107.50, indicating a potential upside of 30.27%. Given Pathward Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than FB Financial.

Profitability

This table compares FB Financial and Pathward Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FB Financial	14.26%	11.64%	1.40%
Pathward Financial	22.42%	22.35%	2.60%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

65.4% of FB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of FB Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Pathward Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

FB Financial has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

FB Financial beats Pathward Financial on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FB Financial

FB Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank that provides a suite of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company operates in segments, such as Banking and Mortgage. It offers checking, demand, money market, and savings accounts; deposit and lending products and services to corporate, commercial, and consumer customers; and time deposits and certificates of deposits, as well as residential mortgage loans. The company also provides owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied real estate commercial, residential real estate 1-4 family mortgage, multi-family residential, commercial and industrial, construction, land acquisition, residential lines of credit, and land development loans; and consumer and other loans, such as car, boat, and other recreational vehicle loans, as well as manufactured homes without real estate and personal lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mortgage banking services through its bank branch network and mortgage banking offices in the southeastern United States; direct-to-consumer internet delivery channel; and trust, insurance, and investment services, as well as online and mobile banking services. The company operates full-service bank branches and limited-service branches locations throughout Tennessee, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Jackson, Birmingham, Florence, Huntsville, Alabama, Bowling Green, and Kentucky; and mortgage offices throughout the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as First South Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to FB Financial Corporation in 2016. FB Financial Corporation was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Pathward Financial

Pathward Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts. The company also provides commercial finance product comprising term lending, asset-based lending, factoring, lease financing, insurance premium finance, government guaranteed lending, and other commercial finance products; consumer credit products; other consumer financing services; tax services, which includes short-term refund advance loans and short-term electronic return originator advance loans; and warehouse financing services. In addition, it issues prepaid cards; and offers payment solutions, such as acceptance, processing, and settlement of credit card and debit card payments. The company was formerly known as Meta Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Pathward Financial, Inc. in July 2022. Pathward Financial, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.