Comparing Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) and CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE)

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.3% of CNB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of CNB Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for CNB Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNB Financial	0	2	3	1	2.83
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	0	2	0	0	2.00

CNB Financial presently has a consensus target price of $36.75, suggesting a potential upside of 7.74%. Given CNB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe CNB Financial is more favorable than Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

Volatility & Risk

CNB Financial has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

CNB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. CNB Financial pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group pays out 32.6% 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. CNB Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares CNB Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNB Financial	19.37%	12.85%	1.26%
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	16.24%	10.65%	0.56%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares CNB Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNB Financial	$432.51 million	2.34	$66.13 million	$3.11	10.97
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	$71.68 billion	2.36	$7.84 billion	$1.44	18.53

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

Summary

CNB Financial beats Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group on 14 of the 18 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 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, securities, credit card, and consumer finance services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Wholesale Business Unit, Retail Business Unit, Global Business Unit, and Global Markets Business Unit segments. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.