Financial Comparison: Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC)

Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Pathward Financial and Nicolet Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pathward Financial	0	1	1	0	2.50
Nicolet Bankshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

Pathward Financial currently has a consensus price target of $71.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.65%. Nicolet Bankshares has a consensus price target of $100.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.00%. Given Nicolet Bankshares’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Nicolet Bankshares is more favorable than Pathward Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Pathward Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of Nicolet Bankshares 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

Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pathward Financial	$602.51 million	2.72	$163.62 million	$6.66	9.72
Nicolet Bankshares	$336.61 million	4.03	$61.52 million	$6.49	14.01

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

Dividends

Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Pathward Financial pays out 3.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 17.3% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Pathward Financial and Nicolet Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pathward Financial	22.10%	23.59%	2.24%
Nicolet Bankshares	21.13%	10.20%	1.26%

Summary

Pathward Financial beats Nicolet Bankshares on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.