Comparing Fidelity D & D Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDBC) & Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS)

Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) and Fidelity D & D Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Peoples Financial Services and Fidelity D & D Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Financial Services	10.07%	5.93%	0.54%
Fidelity D & D Bancorp	14.14%	11.27%	0.84%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Peoples Financial Services and Fidelity D & D Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Financial Services	$163.98 million	2.92	$27.38 million	$2.41	19.89
Fidelity D & D Bancorp	$72.34 million	4.18	$18.21 million	$2.83	18.64

Peoples Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Fidelity D & D Bancorp. Fidelity D & D Bancorp 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.

Risk & Volatility

Peoples Financial Services has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelity D & D Bancorp has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

31.7% of Peoples Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.0% of Fidelity D & D Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Peoples Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of Fidelity D & D Bancorp shares are owned 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.

Dividends

Peoples Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $2.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Fidelity D & D Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Peoples Financial Services pays out 102.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Fidelity D & D Bancorp pays out 56.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelity D & D Bancorp has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Peoples Financial Services and Fidelity D & D Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Financial Services	0	2	0	0	2.00
Fidelity D & D Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Peoples Financial Services presently has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.13%. Given Peoples Financial Services’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Peoples Financial Services is more favorable than Fidelity D & D Bancorp.

Summary

Fidelity D & D Bancorp beats Peoples Financial Services on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company that provides various commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts. It also provides residential real estate, automobile, manufactured housing, personal, and home equity loans; and commercial real estate, working capital, construction, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as loans for equipment and other commercial needs, and mineral rights. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment services; investment management, IRA trustee, estate administration, living and life insurance trust, trustee under will, guardianship, custodial/IRA custodial, and corporate trust services, as well as pension and profit-sharing plans. Further, it provides wealth management products and services comprising investment portfolio management, estate and business succession planning, annuities, insurance, retirement plan, and tax planning, as well as education funding strategies; and securities, brokerage, and investor services. Additionally, the company offers small business checking and merchant money market accounts, online and telephone banking, business credit cards, merchant line of credit, and financial checkup services; and remote deposit capture, automatic clearing house transaction, cash management, automated teller machine, point of sale transaction, safe deposit box, night depository, direct deposit, and official check services. It serves business, non-profit, governmental, municipal agency, and professional customers, as well as retail customers. Peoples Financial Services Corp. was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

About Fidelity D & D Bancorp

Fidelity D & D Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank that provides a range of banking, trust, and financial services to individuals, small businesses, and corporate customers. The company accepts savings, club, interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking, money market, and short- and long-term time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, consumer, and residential mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides alternative financial and insurance products with asset management services. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.