Head to Head Survey: Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) vs. Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU)

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF – Get Rating) and Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Regions Financial and Community Bank System, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regions Financial	0	9	6	0	2.40
Community Bank System	1	2	1	0	2.00

Regions Financial presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 39.74%. Community Bank System has a consensus target price of $64.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.80%. Given Regions Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Regions Financial is more favorable than Community Bank System.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

72.9% of Regions Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Community Bank System shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Regions Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Community Bank System shares are owned 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

Regions Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Community Bank System pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Regions Financial pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Bank System pays out 50.9% 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. Regions Financial has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Community Bank System has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Regions Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regions Financial	29.81%	16.14%	1.47%
Community Bank System	26.77%	11.94%	1.25%

Volatility & Risk

Regions Financial has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Bank System has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regions Financial	$7.53 billion	2.22	$2.25 billion	$2.27	7.88
Community Bank System	$702.45 million	4.12	$188.08 million	$3.46	15.56

Regions Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Community Bank System. Regions 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.

Summary

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

About Regions Financial

(Get Rating)

Regions Financial Corp. operates as a bank holding company. It provides traditional commercial, retail and mortgage banking services, as well as other financial services in the fields of investment banking, asset management, trust, mutual funds, securities brokerage, insurance and other financing. The firm operates through the following segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, Wealth Management, and Other. The Corporate Bank segment represents the commercial banking functions including commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and investor real estate lending. The Consumer Bank segment holds the branch network, including consumer banking products and services related to residential first mortgages, home equity lines and loans, small business loans, indirect loans, consumer credit cards and other consumer loans. The Wealth Management segment offers individuals, businesses, governmental institutions and non-profit entities a range of solutions to help protect, grow and transfer wealth. The Other segment includes the company’s treasury function, the securities portfolio, wholesale funding activities, interest rate risk management activities and other corporate functions that a

About Community Bank System

(Get Rating)

Community Bank System, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of retail, business, and municipal banking services. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The Banking segment offers an array of lending and depository-related products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal enterprises. The Employee Benefit Services segment provides employee benefit trust services, collective investment funds, fund administration, transfer agency, retirement plan and VEBA/HRA, and health savings account plan administration services, actuarial services, and healthcare consulting services. The All Other segment consists of wealth management and insurance services. The company was founded on April 15, 1983 and is headquartered in DeWitt, NY.