Critical Survey: BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) versus Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH)

Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) and BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Pathward Financial and BOK Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pathward Financial	22.90%	25.09%	2.31%
BOK Financial	13.93%	10.52%	1.06%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Pathward Financial and BOK Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pathward Financial	$715.33 million	1.95	$163.62 million	$6.66	8.30
BOK Financial	$3.13 billion	1.90	$530.75 million	$6.86	13.42

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

Volatility & Risk

Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BOK Financial has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Pathward Financial and BOK Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pathward Financial	0	1	1	0	2.50
BOK Financial	0	9	1	0	2.10

Pathward Financial currently has a consensus target price of $63.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.03%. BOK Financial has a consensus target price of $97.10, suggesting a potential upside of 5.49%. Given Pathward Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than BOK Financial.

Dividends

Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. BOK Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Pathward Financial pays out 3.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BOK Financial pays out 32.1% 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. BOK Financial has increased its dividend for 19 consecutive years. BOK Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.4% of BOK Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 56.9% of BOK Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Pathward Financial

Pathward Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts. The company also provides commercial finance product comprising term lending, asset-based lending, factoring, lease financing, insurance premium finance, government guaranteed lending, and other commercial finance products; consumer credit products; other consumer financing services; tax services, which includes short-term refund advance loans and short-term electronic return originator advance loans; and warehouse financing services. In addition, it issues prepaid cards; and offers payment solutions, such as acceptance, processing, and settlement of credit card and debit card payments. The company was formerly known as Meta Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Pathward Financial, Inc. in July 2022. Pathward Financial, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

About BOK Financial

BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers lending, treasury, cash management, and customer commodity risk management products for small businesses, middle market, and larger commercial customers, as well as operates TransFund electronic funds transfer network. The Consumer Banking segment engages in the provision of retail lending and deposit services to small business customers through retail branch network; and mortgage loan origination and servicing activities. The Wealth Management segment offers fiduciary, private bank, insurance, and investment advisory services; and brokerage and trading services primarily related to providing liquidity to the mortgage markets through trading of U.S. government agency mortgage-backed securities and related derivative contracts, as well as underwrites state and municipal securities. The company also provides commercial loans, such as loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchases of equipment, and other needs of commercial customers; and service, healthcare, manufacturing, wholesale/retail, energy, and other sector loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans for the construction of buildings or other improvements to real estate and property held by borrowers for investment purposes; residential mortgage and personal loans; and automated teller machine, call center, and Internet and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.