Financial Review: Freedom Financial (OTCMKTS:FDVA) versus Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC)

Freedom Financial (OTCMKTS:FDVA) and Camden National (NASDAQ:CAC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.4% of Camden National shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Freedom Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Camden National shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Freedom Financial and Camden National, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freedom Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Camden National	0	4	1	0	2.20

Camden National has a consensus price target of $49.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.60%. Given Camden National’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Camden National is more favorable than Freedom Financial.

Risk and Volatility

Freedom Financial has a beta of 0.08, suggesting that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Camden National has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Freedom Financial and Camden National”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Freedom Financial	$63.61 million	1.32	$370,000.00	$0.71	16.76
Camden National	$373.18 million	2.19	$65.16 million	$3.84	12.56

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

Profitability

This table compares Freedom Financial and Camden National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freedom Financial	7.83%	6.07%	0.48%
Camden National	17.46%	11.22%	1.07%

Summary

Camden National beats Freedom Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Freedom Financial

Freedom Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Freedom Bank of Virginia that provides commercial banking, personal banking, and mortgage banking solutions. The company offers personal and business checking accounts, interest bearing business savings accounts, money market accounts, personal savings accounts, certificates of deposits, and IRAs, as well as insured cash sweep and certificate of deposit account registry services. It also provides business term, personal, and mortgage loans; commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate mortgage and small business lending services; home equity lines; and credit cards. In addition, the company offers treasury management, online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, ACH, and wire transfer services; business valuation, bank-at-work, and merchant services; and prestige banking services. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

About Camden National

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.