C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) versus The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) Financial Survey

C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI) and The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Dividends

C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. The PNC Financial Services Group pays an annual dividend of $8.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. C&F Financial pays out 21.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The PNC Financial Services Group pays out 44.0% 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. C&F Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and The PNC Financial Services Group has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. The PNC Financial Services Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for C&F Financial and The PNC Financial Services Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
C&F Financial	0	0	2	0	3.00
The PNC Financial Services Group	0	4	16	1	2.86

C&F Financial presently has a consensus price target of $115.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.74%. The PNC Financial Services Group has a consensus price target of $270.03, suggesting a potential upside of 22.39%. Given The PNC Financial Services Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe The PNC Financial Services Group is more favorable than C&F Financial.

Profitability

This table compares C&F Financial and The PNC Financial Services Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
C&F Financial	14.91%	10.72%	1.02%
The PNC Financial Services Group	21.41%	12.48%	1.31%

Volatility and Risk

C&F Financial has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The PNC Financial Services Group has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares C&F Financial and The PNC Financial Services Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
C&F Financial	$186.13 million	1.69	$26.83 million	$8.96	10.81
The PNC Financial Services Group	$34.00 billion	2.59	$6.94 billion	$18.17	12.14

The PNC Financial Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than C&F Financial. C&F Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The PNC Financial Services Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

37.2% of C&F Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.5% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of C&F Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of The PNC Financial Services Group 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

The PNC Financial Services Group beats C&F Financial on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About C&F Financial

C&F Financial Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals and businesses. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Mortgage Banking and Consumer Finance. The Community Banking segment provides checking and savings deposit accounts, business, real estate, development, mortgage, home equity, and installment loans. The Mortgage Banking segment offers ancillary mortgage loan origination services for loan settlement and residential appraisals. The Consumer Finance segment consists of automobile financing through lending programs that are designed to serve customers in the non-prime market who have limited access to traditional automobile financing. The company was founded on March 8, 1994 and is headquartered in Toano, VA.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Asset Management Group segments. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services. This segment serves consumer and small business customers through a network of branches, digital channels, ATMs, and through phone-based customer contact centers. Its Corporate & Institutional Banking segment provides secured and unsecured loans, letters of credit, and equipment leases; cash and investment management services, receivables and disbursement management services, funds transfer services, international payment services, and access to online/mobile information management and reporting; securities underwriting, loan syndications, customer-related trading, and mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory related services; and commercial loan servicing and technology solutions. It serves mid-sized and large corporations, and government and not-for-profit entities. The company's Asset Management Group segment offers investment and retirement planning, customized investment management, credit and cash management solutions, and trust management and administration services for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, and their families; and multi-generational family planning services for ultra high net worth individuals and their families. It also provides outsourced chief investment officer, custody, private real estate, cash and fixed income client solutions, and retirement plan fiduciary investment services for institutional clients. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.