S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) versus CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) Critical Comparison

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) and S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.3% of CNB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of CNB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CNB Financial and S&T Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNB Financial	$224.79 million	2.10	$54.58 million	$2.33	9.65
S&T Bancorp	$381.33 million	3.78	$131.26 million	$3.47	10.84

S&T Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than CNB Financial. CNB Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than S&T Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

CNB Financial has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, S&T Bancorp has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

CNB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. S&T Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. CNB Financial pays out 30.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. S&T Bancorp pays out 39.2% 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. CNB Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and S&T Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. S&T Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares CNB Financial and S&T Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNB Financial	14.97%	10.24%	0.92%
S&T Bancorp	23.24%	9.77%	1.37%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for CNB Financial and S&T Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNB Financial	0	1	1	0	2.50
S&T Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00

CNB Financial currently has a consensus price target of $25.75, suggesting a potential upside of 14.55%. S&T Bancorp has a consensus price target of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.61%. Given CNB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe CNB Financial is more favorable than S&T Bancorp.

Summary

S&T Bancorp beats CNB Financial on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for CNB Bank that provides a range of banking products and services for individual, business, governmental, and institutional customers. The company accepts checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; and offers real estate, commercial, industrial, residential, and consumer loans, as well as various other specialized financial services. It also provides private banking; and wealth and asset management services, including the administration of trusts and estates, retirement plans, and other employee benefit plans, as well as a range of wealth management services. In addition, the company invests in debt and equity securities; sells nonproprietary annuities and other insurance products; and offers small balance unsecured loans and secured loans primarily collateralized by automobiles and equipment, as well as engages in consumer discount loan and finance business. The company was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of consumer, commercial, and small business banking services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Construction, Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate, and Other Consumer. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes both owner-occupied properties and investment properties for various purposes such as hotels, retail, multifamily and health care. The Commercial and Industrial segment focuses on the companies or manufacturers for the purpose of production, operating capacity, accounts receivable, inventory or equipment financing. The Commercial Construction segment refers to the finance construction of buildings or other structures, as well as to finance the acquisition and development of raw land for various purposes. The Business Banking segment is made to small businesses that are standard, non-complex products evaluated through a streamlined credit approval process that has been designed to maximize efficiency while maintaining high credit quality standards. The Consumer Real Estate segment offers first and second liens such as 1-4 family residential mortgages, home equity loans and home equity lines of credit. The Other Consumer segment consists of individuals that may be secured by assets other than 1-4 family residences, as well as unsecured loans. The company was founded on March 17, 1983 and is headquartered in Indiana, PA.