WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) & Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Head to Head Comparison

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) and WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Community Bank System and WSFS Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Bank System	15.90%	8.94%	0.94%
WSFS Financial	20.04%	11.47%	1.35%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Community Bank System and WSFS Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Bank System	$713.41 million	4.38	$131.92 million	$3.18	18.62
WSFS Financial	$1.27 billion	2.41	$269.16 million	$4.48	11.49

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Community Bank System and WSFS Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Bank System	1	2	0	0	1.67
WSFS Financial	0	2	2	0	2.50

Community Bank System currently has a consensus price target of $47.67, indicating a potential downside of 19.51%. WSFS Financial has a consensus price target of $61.50, indicating a potential upside of 19.46%. Given WSFS Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WSFS Financial is more favorable than Community Bank System.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.8% of Community Bank System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of WSFS Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Community Bank System shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of WSFS Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Community Bank System has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WSFS Financial has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Community Bank System pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. WSFS Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Community Bank System pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WSFS Financial pays out 13.4% 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 Bank System has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Community Bank System is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

WSFS Financial beats Community Bank System on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Bank System

Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and check credit lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management services; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that provides personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it offers contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration and benefit consulting, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, and health and welfare consulting services; and act as an investor in residential and commercial real estate activities. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and insurance and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities. The company also provides a range of loans, which comprise fixed and adjustable rate residential loans; commercial mortgage and commercial loans; commercial construction loans; commercial loans for working capital, financing equipment and real estate acquisitions, business expansion and other business purposes; and consumer credit products, such as home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans, unsecured lines of credit, and other secured and unsecured personal installment loans. In addition, it offers insurance products; planning and advisory services, investment management, trust services, and credit and deposit products to individual, corporate and institutional clients; retail securities and insurance brokerage services; mortgage and title services; residential mortgage and refinancing solutions; and leases small equipment and fixed assets, as well as provides financial planning, customized investment strategies, brokerage products, fiduciary, and wealth management services. Further, the company provides ATM vault cash, smart safe, and other cash logistics services; and online reporting and ATM cash management, predictive cash ordering and reconcilement services, armored carrier management, loss protection, and deposit safe cash logistics services, as well as trustee, agency, bankruptcy administration, custodial and commercial domicile services. The company was founded in 1832 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.