Reviewing Camden National (CAC) and Its Rivals

Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) is one of 920 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Camden National to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Camden National has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Camden National’s peers have a beta of 0.61, meaning that their average share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.4% of Camden National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Camden National shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Camden National pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Camden National pays out 31.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.5% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Camden National lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Camden National and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Camden National	0	3	2	0	2.40
Camden National Competitors	7458	30163	27714	1451	2.35

Camden National presently has a consensus price target of $56.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.34%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 17.53%. Given Camden National’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Camden National has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Camden National and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Camden National	24.16%	12.71%	1.30%
Camden National Competitors	15.63%	9.45%	0.93%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Camden National	$261.73 million	$65.16 million	10.80
Camden National Competitors	$37.86 billion	$2.41 billion	16.68

Camden National’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Camden National. Camden National 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.

Summary

Camden National peers beat Camden National on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Camden National Company Profile

Camden National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Camden National Bank that provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services for consumer, institutional, municipal, non-profit, and commercial customers in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The company accepts checking, savings, time, and brokered deposits, as well as deposits with the certificate of deposit account registry system. Its loan products include non-owner-occupied commercial estate loans, owner-occupied commercial real estate loans, unsecured fully-guaranteed commercial loans backed by the small business administration, loans secured by one-to four-family properties, and consumer and home equity loans. The company also provides brokerage and insurance services through its financial offerings consisting of college, retirement, estate planning, mutual funds, strategic asset management accounts, and variable and fixed annuities. Further, it offers a range of fiduciary and asset management, wealth management, investment management, financial planning, and trustee services. Camden National Corporation was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Camden, Maine.