Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) & CB Financial Services (NASDAQ:CBFV) Critical Analysis

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) and CB Financial Services (NASDAQ:CBFV) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Fifth Third Bancorp and CB Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fifth Third Bancorp	0	9	9	0	2.50
CB Financial Services	0	3	0	0	2.00

Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $40.56, suggesting a potential downside of 1.24%. CB Financial Services has a consensus target price of $24.67, suggesting a potential downside of 1.88%. Given Fifth Third Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Fifth Third Bancorp is more favorable than CB Financial Services.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fifth Third Bancorp and CB Financial Services’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fifth Third Bancorp	$8.22 billion	3.42	$2.35 billion	$3.15	13.04
CB Financial Services	$39.89 million	3.24	$22.55 million	$4.40	5.71

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

Profitability

This table compares Fifth Third Bancorp and CB Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fifth Third Bancorp	17.41%	15.79%	1.21%
CB Financial Services	24.64%	8.79%	0.80%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.1% of CB Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of CB Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. CB Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CB Financial Services pays out 22.7% 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. Fifth Third Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. CB Financial Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CB Financial Services has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fifth Third Bancorp beats CB Financial Services on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Fifth Third Bank, National Association that engages in the provision of a range of financial products and services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers. The Consumer and Small Banking segment provides a range of deposit and loan products to individuals and small businesses; home equity loans and lines of credit; credit cards; and cash management services. This segment also engages in the residential mortgage that include origination, retention and servicing of residential mortgage loans, sales and securitizations of loans, and hedging activities; indirect lending, including extending loans to consumers through automobile dealers, motorcycle dealers, powersport dealers, recreational vehicle dealers, and marine dealers; and home improvement and solar energy installation loans through contractors and installers. The Wealth & Asset Management segment provides various wealth management services for individuals, companies, and not-for-profit organizations. It offers retail brokerage services to individual clients; and broker dealer services to the institutional marketplace. This segment also provides wealth planning, investment management, banking, insurance, and trust and estate services; and advisory services for institutional clients comprising middle market businesses, non-profits, states, and municipalities. The company was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

About CB Financial Services

CB Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The company's primary deposit products include demand deposits, NOW accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, as well as time deposit products. Its loan products comprise residential real estate loans, such as one- to four-family mortgage loans, home equity installment loans, and home equity lines of credit; commercial real estate loans that are secured primarily by improved properties, such as retail facilities, office buildings, and other non-residential buildings; construction loans to individuals to finance the construction of residential dwellings, as well as for the construction of commercial properties, including hotels, apartment buildings, housing developments, and owner-occupied properties used for businesses; commercial and industrial loans, and lines of credit; consumer loans consisting of indirect auto loans, secured and unsecured loans, and lines of credit; and other loans. In addition, the company conducts insurance agency activities by offering property and casualty, commercial liability, surety, and other insurance products. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.