Financial Survey: Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) & AmeriServ Financial (NASDAQ:ASRV)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.1% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.5% of AmeriServ Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of AmeriServ Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mid Penn Bancorp and AmeriServ Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid Penn Bancorp	13.95%	8.31%	1.06%
AmeriServ Financial	6.20%	4.72%	0.38%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mid Penn Bancorp and AmeriServ Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid Penn Bancorp	$350.61 million	2.44	$56.25 million	$2.20	15.34
AmeriServ Financial	$88.34 million	0.72	$5.61 million	$0.33	11.42

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

Volatility & Risk

Mid Penn Bancorp has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AmeriServ Financial has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Mid Penn Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. AmeriServ Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Mid Penn Bancorp pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AmeriServ Financial pays out 36.4% 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. AmeriServ Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Mid Penn Bancorp and AmeriServ Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mid Penn Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
AmeriServ Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00

Mid Penn Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.66%. Given Mid Penn Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Mid Penn Bancorp is more favorable than AmeriServ Financial.

Summary

Mid Penn Bancorp beats AmeriServ Financial on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mid Penn Bancorp

Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Mid Penn Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. The company offers various time and demand deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, clubs, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides a range of loan products comprising mortgage and home equity loans, secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, lines of credit, construction financing, farm loans, community development loans, loans to non-profit entities, and local government loans. In addition, the company offers trust, retail investment, wealth management, and insurance services; and provides online banking, telephone banking, cash management, and automated teller services, as well as safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

About AmeriServ Financial

AmeriServ Financial, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of consumer, mortgage and commercial financial products and services through its subsidiary. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wealth Management, and Investment or Parent. The Community Banking segment includes both retail and commercial banking activities. The Wealth Management segment involves in the operations of a Trust Company, West Chester Capital Advisors an investment advisory firm, and Financial Services. The Investment or Parent segment offers investment securities, borrowing activities, and general corporate expenses. The company was founded in January 1983 and is headquartered in Johnstown, PA.