Financial Survey: Norwood Financial (NWFL) vs. Its Peers

Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) is one of 919 public companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Norwood Financial to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Norwood Financial and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Norwood Financial	0	1	1	0	2.50
Norwood Financial Competitors	7463	30182	27751	1456	2.35

Norwood Financial presently has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.62%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 16.05%. Given Norwood Financial’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Norwood Financial has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Volatility & Risk

Norwood Financial has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norwood Financial’s peers have a beta of 0.52, meaning that their average stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.1% of Norwood Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 8.1% of Norwood Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Norwood Financial and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Norwood Financial	$136.15 million	$27.75 million	11.63
Norwood Financial Competitors	$9.95 billion	$2.42 billion	17.37

Norwood Financial’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Norwood Financial. Norwood Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Norwood Financial and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Norwood Financial	19.67%	13.53%	1.34%
Norwood Financial Competitors	15.66%	9.44%	0.93%

Dividends

Norwood Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Norwood Financial pays out 41.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.3% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Norwood Financial has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Norwood Financial lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Norwood Financial peers beat Norwood Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Norwood Financial

Norwood Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Wayne Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts a range of deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing transaction accounts, and statement savings and money market accounts, as well as certificate of deposits. It also provides commercial loans comprising lines of credit, revolving credit, term loans, mortgages, secured lending products, and letter of credit facilities; municipal finance lending; construction loans for commercial construction projects and single-family residences; land loans; construction financing; consumer loans; mortgage lending to finance principal residences and second home dwellings; and indirect dealer financing of new and used automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles. In addition, the company offers investment securities services; personal and business credit services; trust and investment products; and cash management, direct deposit, remote deposit capture, mobile deposit capture, automated clearing house activity, real estate settlement, and Internet and mobile banking services. Further, it engages in the annuity and mutual fund sale, and discount brokerage activities, as well as insurance agency business. The company serves consumers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities. It operates branches in Northeastern Pennsylvania; and in Delaware, Sullivan, Ontario, Otsego, and Yates Counties, New York, as well as automated teller machines. Norwood Financial Corp. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.