Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) & Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) Financial Survey

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) and Heritage Global (NASDAQ:HGBL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Community Financial System has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heritage Global has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Financial System	21.26%	11.24%	1.28%
Heritage Global	6.45%	4.86%	3.73%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Community Financial System and Heritage Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Financial System	$1.01 billion	3.51	$210.46 million	$4.12	16.38
Heritage Global	$50.98 million	0.83	$3.59 million	$0.10	12.20

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Community Financial System and Heritage Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Financial System	0	4	1	1	2.50
Heritage Global	1	1	1	1	2.50

Community Financial System currently has a consensus target price of $69.75, indicating a potential upside of 3.33%. Heritage Global has a consensus target price of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 268.85%. Given Heritage Global’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Heritage Global is more favorable than Community Financial System.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.8% of Community Financial System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.5% of Heritage Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Community Financial System shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.0% of Heritage Global shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Community Financial System beats Heritage Global on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Financial System

Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and check credit lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management services; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that provides personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it offers contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration and benefit consulting, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, and health and welfare consulting services; and act as an investor in residential and commercial real estate activities. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and insurance and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.

About Heritage Global

Heritage Global Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset services company with focus on financial and industrial asset transactions. The company operates in three segments: Auction and Liquidation, Refurbishment & Resale, and Brokerage. It provides a suite of market making, acquisitions, refurbishment, dispositions, valuations, and secured lending services. The company focuses on identifying, valuing, acquiring, and monetizing underlying tangible assets. It acts as an adviser, as well as a principal, acquiring, or brokering manufacturing facilities; surplus industrial machinery and equipment; industrial inventories; and charged-off receivable portfolios. The company was formerly known as Counsel RB Capital Inc. and changed its name to Heritage Global, Inc. in August 2013. Heritage Global, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.