Reviewing CF Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFBK) and Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP)

CF Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFBK) and Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.1% of CF Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Pinnacle Financial Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 19.7% of CF Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Pinnacle Financial Partners shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares CF Bankshares and Pinnacle Financial Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CF Bankshares	10.72%	8.25%	0.65%
Pinnacle Financial Partners	15.48%	9.04%	1.08%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares CF Bankshares and Pinnacle Financial Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CF Bankshares	$52.47 million	2.37	$13.39 million	$2.27	10.51
Pinnacle Financial Partners	$1.59 billion	5.41	$475.06 million	$6.18	17.95

Pinnacle Financial Partners has higher revenue and earnings than CF Bankshares. CF Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pinnacle Financial Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

CF Bankshares has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pinnacle Financial Partners has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Dividends

CF Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Pinnacle Financial Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. CF Bankshares pays out 12.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pinnacle Financial Partners pays out 15.5% 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. CF Bankshares has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Pinnacle Financial Partners has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CF Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for CF Bankshares and Pinnacle Financial Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CF Bankshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Pinnacle Financial Partners	0	4	5	1	2.70

Pinnacle Financial Partners has a consensus target price of $119.90, suggesting a potential upside of 8.09%. Given Pinnacle Financial Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pinnacle Financial Partners is more favorable than CF Bankshares.

Summary

Pinnacle Financial Partners beats CF Bankshares on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CF Bankshares

CF Bankshares Inc. operates as the bank holding company for CFBank, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts savings, retail and business checking accounts, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers single-family mortgage loans; commercial real estate and multi-family residential mortgage loans; commercial loans and equipment leases; residential real estate loans and treasury management depository services; retail banking services and products. In addition, the company offers consumer loans, such as home equity lines of credit, home improvement loans, and loans secured by deposits and purchased loans, as well as other loans. Further, it provides online internet banking, mobile banking, and remote deposits. The company was formerly known as Central Federal Corporation and changed its name to CF Bankshares Inc. in July 2020. CF Bankshares Inc. was founded in 1892 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services. It offers equipment and working capital loans; commercial real estate loans comprising investment properties and business loans; secured and unsecured loans, such as installment and term, lines of credit, and residential first mortgage, as well as home equity loans and home equity lines of credit; and credit cards for consumers and businesses. The company also provides investment products; brokerage and investment advisory programs; and fiduciary and investment services, such as personal trust, investment management, estate administration, endowments, foundations, individual retirement accounts, escrow services, and custody. In addition, it offers insurance agency services primarily in the property and casualty area; merger and acquisition advisory services; and private debt, equity and mezzanine, and other middle-market advisory services. Further, the company provides telephone and online banking, mobile banking, debit and credit cards, direct deposit and remote deposit capture, mobile deposit option, automated teller machine, and cash management services. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.