Investar (NASDAQ:ISTR – Get Free Report) and Pathfinder Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBHC – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and valuation.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings for Investar and Pathfinder Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Investar | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Pathfinder Bancorp | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Investar currently has a consensus price target of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.20%. Given Investar’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Investar is more favorable than Pathfinder Bancorp.
Profitability
This table compares Investar and Pathfinder Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Investar | 18.81% | 12.30% | 1.22% |
| Pathfinder Bancorp | 0.13% | 0.08% | 0.01% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Investar and Pathfinder Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Investar | $153.48 million | 2.52 | $22.90 million | $2.63 | 10.70 |
| Pathfinder Bancorp | $79.15 million | 1.05 | -$1.93 million | $0.01 | 1,699.10 |
Investar has higher revenue and earnings than Pathfinder Bancorp. Investar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pathfinder Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Investar has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathfinder Bancorp has a beta of 0.11, suggesting that its share price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Investar pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Pathfinder Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Investar pays out 18.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pathfinder Bancorp pays out 4,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Investar has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Pathfinder Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
50.2% of Investar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.7% of Pathfinder Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.6% of Investar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.7% of Pathfinder Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Investar beats Pathfinder Bancorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Investar
Investar Holding Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through its principal subsidiary, Investar Bank, the company provides community banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Investar Bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and commercial deposit services. Its lending activities include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage loans, construction and development lending, and consumer loans.
About Pathfinder Bancorp
Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Oswego, New York. Through its principal subsidiary, Pathfinder Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and organizations in Central New York. Pathfinder Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential and commercial real estate loans, mortgage products and other traditional banking services. The bank also provides cash management and related financial solutions designed to support small businesses, commercial customers and municipal organizations.
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