WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WSFS) and People’s United Financial (NASDAQ:PBCT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.
Volatility & Risk
WSFS Financial Corporation has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, People’s United Financial has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares WSFS Financial Corporation and People’s United Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| WSFS Financial Corporation | 19.96% | 10.44% | 1.08% |
| People’s United Financial | 18.88% | 6.14% | 0.75% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
78.4% of WSFS Financial Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.0% of People’s United Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 4.9% of WSFS Financial Corporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of People’s United Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
WSFS Financial Corporation pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. People’s United Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. WSFS Financial Corporation pays out 12.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. People’s United Financial pays out 77.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. WSFS Financial Corporation has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares WSFS Financial Corporation and People’s United Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| WSFS Financial Corporation | $307.38 million | 4.55 | $69.12 million | $2.20 | 20.25 |
| People’s United Financial | $1.34 billion | 4.34 | $306.66 million | $0.89 | 18.94 |
People’s United Financial has higher revenue and earnings than WSFS Financial Corporation. People’s United Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WSFS Financial Corporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for WSFS Financial Corporation and People’s United Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| WSFS Financial Corporation | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
| People’s United Financial | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1.82 |
WSFS Financial Corporation currently has a consensus price target of $51.33, indicating a potential upside of 15.23%. People’s United Financial has a consensus price target of $18.31, indicating a potential upside of 8.57%. Given WSFS Financial Corporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe WSFS Financial Corporation is more favorable than People’s United Financial.
Summary
WSFS Financial Corporation beats People’s United Financial on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
WSFS Financial Corporation Company Profile
WSFS Financial Corporation is a savings and loan holding company. The Company’s subsidiary is Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB (WSFS Bank or the Bank), which is the bank and trust company. It operates in three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect and Wealth Management. The WSFS Bank segment provides loans and other financial products to commercial and retail customers. Its Cash Connect segment provides automated teller machine (ATM) services through strategic partnerships with several of the network, manufacturers and service providers in the ATM industry. The Wealth Management segment provides a range of fiduciary, investment management, credit and deposit products to clients. Its banking business is commercial lending funded by customer-generated deposits. It also offers a range of consumer loan products, retail securities and insurance brokerage services. Its subsidiaries include WSFS Wealth Investments, 1832 Holdings, Inc., Monarch and West Capital Management.
People’s United Financial Company Profile
People’s United Financial, Inc. is a bank holding company and a financial holding company of People’s United Bank (the Bank). The Bank is engaged in providing commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services to individual, corporate and municipal customers. The Company operates through two segments: Commercial Banking and Retail Banking. Commercial Banking segment is engaged in commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial lending, and commercial deposit gathering activities. It offers cash management, correspondent banking, municipal banking, institutional trust services, corporate trust, insurance services and private banking, among others. Retail Banking segment provides consumer lending (including residential mortgage and home equity lending) and consumer deposit gathering activities. The Retail Banking segment also includes brokerage, financial advisory services, investment management services, and life insurance and non-institutional trust services.
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