Head-To-Head Contrast: German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) & Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) and Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares German American Bancorp and Wintrust Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
German American Bancorp	27.09%	11.98%	1.62%
Wintrust Financial	20.11%	13.15%	1.25%

Volatility & Risk

German American Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

46.9% of German American Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of German American Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

German American Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. German American Bancorp pays out 34.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wintrust Financial pays out 18.4% 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. German American Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. German American Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for German American Bancorp and Wintrust Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
German American Bancorp	0	1	3	0	2.75
Wintrust Financial	0	2	10	1	2.92

German American Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $47.67, suggesting a potential upside of 14.47%. Wintrust Financial has a consensus price target of $168.92, suggesting a potential upside of 16.83%. Given Wintrust Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than German American Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares German American Bancorp and Wintrust Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
German American Bancorp	$487.40 million	3.21	$112.64 million	$3.61	11.53
Wintrust Financial	$2.80 billion	3.49	$823.84 million	$11.93	12.12

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

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats German American Bancorp on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About German American Bancorp

German American Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market. The Wealth Management segment provides trust, investment advisory, brokerage, and retirement planning services. The Insurance Operations segment offers a range of personal and corporate property and casualty insurance products. It also offers checking, saving, and individual retirement accounts; certificates of deposit; wire transfer; credit cards; home equity, mortgages, and small business; treasury management; and online and mobile banking, bill pay, digital wallet, mobile check deposit, credit score and report, money management, and estatements, as well as wealth advisory. German American Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is based in Jasper, Indiana.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.