Community Bank System (CBU) Competitors

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Is CBU or SFNC a better dividend stock?

Community Bank System pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Community Bank System pays out 56.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out 63.2% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CBU or SFNC?

Simmons First National received 65 more outperform votes than Community Bank System when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 48.47% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote while only 48.23% of users gave Community Bank System an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Community Bank System	Outperform Votes 204 48.23%	Underperform Votes 219 51.77%
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 269 48.47%	Underperform Votes 286 51.53%

Do analysts prefer CBU or SFNC?

Community Bank System currently has a consensus target price of $47.67, suggesting a potential upside of 2.33%. Simmons First National has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.58%. Given Simmons First National's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Simmons First National is more favorable than Community Bank System.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Bank System	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Simmons First National	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is CBU or SFNC more profitable?

Community Bank System has a net margin of 16.59% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 11.97%. Community Bank System's return on equity of 8.93% beat Simmons First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Bank System	16.59%	8.93%	0.94%
Simmons First National	11.97%	5.94%	0.73%

Which has better valuation & earnings, CBU or SFNC?

Simmons First National has higher revenue and earnings than Community Bank System. Simmons First National 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Bank System	$704.87M	3.48	$131.92M	$3.18	14.64
Simmons First National	$756.15M	2.95	$175.06M	$1.33	13.39

Does the media prefer CBU or SFNC?

In the previous week, Community Bank System had 4 more articles in the media than Simmons First National. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Community Bank System and 4 mentions for Simmons First National. Community Bank System's average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat Simmons First National's score of 0.46 indicating that Community Bank System is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Community Bank System	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Simmons First National	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk and volatility, CBU or SFNC?

Community Bank System has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CBU or SFNC?

73.8% of Community Bank System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Simmons First National shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Community Bank System shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Simmons First National shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Community Bank System beats Simmons First National on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.