Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS) and Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) Financial Contrast

Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) and Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Pathward Financial and Pioneer Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pathward Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00
Pioneer Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Pathward Financial presently has a consensus target price of $107.50, suggesting a potential upside of 30.71%. Given Pathward Financial’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than Pioneer Bancorp.

Risk & Volatility

Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pioneer Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pathward Financial and Pioneer Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pathward Financial	22.42%	22.35%	2.60%
Pioneer Bancorp	16.17%	5.02%	0.74%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pathward Financial and Pioneer Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pathward Financial	$851.49 million	2.04	$185.87 million	$8.42	9.77
Pioneer Bancorp	$98.09 million	3.82	$6.45 million	$0.66	22.62

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Pioneer Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Pathward Financial beats Pioneer Bancorp on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pathward Financial

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.

About Pioneer Bancorp

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Pioneer Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services in New York. The company accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. Its loan products include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, commercial construction, residential mortgage lending, consumer loans, and home equity lines of credit. The company also invests in the U.S. governmental securities, fixed rate collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage-backed securities, fixed-rate investment grade bonds, and equity securities. In addition, the company offers personal and commercial insurance products, including homeowners, automobile, and comprehensive business insurance; employee benefit products and services, such as group health, dental, disability, and life insurance products, as well as defined contribution, defined benefit administration, and human resource management services; and wealth management services comprising investment advice, retirement income planning, estate planning, business succession, and employer retirement planning. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Albany, New York. Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC.