Head to Head Review: Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) vs. Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Community Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:CTBI) and Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Community Trust Bancorp and Pinnacle Financial Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Trust Bancorp	$273.56 million	3.61	$82.81 million	$5.17	10.54
Pinnacle Financial Partners	$1.74 billion	3.94	$475.06 million	$7.87	11.21

Pinnacle Financial Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Community Trust Bancorp. Community Trust Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pinnacle Financial Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Community Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Pinnacle Financial Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Community Trust Bancorp pays out 41.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pinnacle Financial Partners pays out 12.2% 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. Community Trust Bancorp has raised its dividend for 44 consecutive years and Pinnacle Financial Partners has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Community Trust Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.2% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Pinnacle Financial Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Community Trust Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Pinnacle Financial Partners shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Community Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pinnacle Financial Partners has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Community Trust Bancorp and Pinnacle Financial Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Trust Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00
Pinnacle Financial Partners	0	7	6	0	2.46

Community Trust Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $63.50, suggesting a potential upside of 16.54%. Pinnacle Financial Partners has a consensus target price of $109.55, suggesting a potential upside of 24.15%. Given Pinnacle Financial Partners’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Pinnacle Financial Partners is more favorable than Community Trust Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Community Trust Bancorp and Pinnacle Financial Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Trust Bancorp	23.24%	11.91%	1.48%
Pinnacle Financial Partners	19.17%	9.91%	1.17%

Summary

Pinnacle Financial Partners beats Community Trust Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Trust Bancorp

Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Trust Bank, Inc. that engages in the provision of commercial and personal banking, and trust and wealth management services to small and mid-sized communities in eastern, northeastern, central, and south-central Kentucky, as well as southern West Virginia, and northeastern Tennessee. The company accepts time and demand deposits, checking accounts, savings accounts and savings certificates, individual retirement accounts and Keogh plans, and money market accounts. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, construction, mortgage, and personal loans; lease-financing, lines of credit, revolving lines of credit, and term loans, as well as other specialized loans, including asset-based financing; residential and commercial real estate loans; and consumer loans. The company also provides cash management, renting safe deposit boxes, and funds transfer services; issues letters of credit; and acts as a trustee of personal trusts, executor of estates, trustee for employee benefit trusts, and paying agent for bond and stock issues, as well as an investment agent and depositor for securities. In addition, it offers securities brokerage services; debit cards; annuity and life insurance products; and repurchase agreements, as well as mobile, internet banking, and e-statement services. The company was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Pikeville, Kentucky.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services. It offers equipment and working capital loans; commercial real estate loans comprising investment properties and business loans; secured and unsecured loans, such as installment and term, lines of credit, and residential first mortgage, as well as home equity loans and home equity lines of credit; and credit cards for consumers and businesses. The company also provides investment products; brokerage and investment advisory programs; and fiduciary and investment services, such as personal trust, investment management, estate administration, endowments, foundations, individual retirement accounts, escrow services, and custody. In addition, it offers insurance agency services primarily in the property and casualty area; merger and acquisition advisory services; and private debt, equity and mezzanine, and other middle-market advisory services. Further, the company provides telephone and online banking, mobile banking, debit and credit cards, direct deposit and remote deposit capture, mobile deposit option, automated teller machine, and cash management services. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.