Financial Analysis: Pathward Financial (CASH) and Its Rivals

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathward Financial’s competitors have a beta of 0.61, meaning that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Pathward Financial pays out 2.5% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Pathward Financial and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pathward Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00
Pathward Financial Competitors	7470	30200	27770	1466	2.35

Pathward Financial presently has a consensus price target of $101.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.78%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 16.34%. Given Pathward Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than its competitors.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pathward Financial and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pathward Financial	$832.16 million	$175.67 million	9.42
Pathward Financial Competitors	$13.77 billion	$2.42 billion	20.08

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

Profitability

This table compares Pathward Financial and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pathward Financial	21.11%	20.82%	2.40%
Pathward Financial Competitors	15.64%	9.43%	0.93%

Summary

Pathward Financial beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Pathward Financial Company Profile

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.