Pathfinder Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBHC) versus Suruga Bank (OTCMKTS:SUGBY) Head to Head Review

Pathfinder Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBHC) and Suruga Bank (OTCMKTS:SUGBY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Pathfinder Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Suruga Bank pays an annual dividend of $2.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Pathfinder Bancorp pays out -63.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Suruga Bank pays out 21.4% 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. Pathfinder Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Pathfinder Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Pathfinder Bancorp has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Suruga Bank has a beta of -0.03, meaning that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Pathfinder Bancorp and Suruga Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pathfinder Bancorp	1	0	0	0	1.00
Suruga Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Pathfinder Bancorp and Suruga Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pathfinder Bancorp	-4.96%	-3.20%	-0.27%
Suruga Bank	27.03%	9.01%	0.78%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

26.7% of Pathfinder Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.4% of Pathfinder Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pathfinder Bancorp and Suruga Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pathfinder Bancorp	$79.15 million	0.82	-$1.93 million	($0.63)	-21.11
Suruga Bank	$598.19 million	2.28	$133.17 million	$9.76	8.20

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

Summary

Suruga Bank beats Pathfinder Bancorp on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pathfinder Bancorp

Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Pathfinder Bank that provides various banking and financial products and services in New York. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate, commercial, residential real estate, construction, and tax-exempt loans; home equity loans and junior liens; and consumer loans comprising automobile, recreational vehicles, and unsecured personal loans, as well as unsecured lines of credit and loans secured by deposit accounts. The company is also involved in the property, casualty, and life insurance brokerage business. It primarily serves individuals, families, small to mid-size businesses, and municipalities. The company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Oswego, New York.

About Suruga Bank

Suruga Bank Ltd. provides various banking and financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Japan. The company offers deposit products, such as time, ordinary, savings, foreign currency, and other deposits, as well as current and general accounts; card, housing, second house, startup, and business up term loans, as well as loans by purpose; credit and debit cards; overdrafts; and other financing products. It also provides investment trust, public bond, pension contribution, insurance, inheritance/trust, lottery, foreign currency, pay-easy, web direct, safe deposit box, external linkage, foreign remittance, fund management, e-combination, payment, nursing care/medical care/dispensing compensation receivable factoring, mortgage, and Internet and telephone banking services. In addition, the company offers staffing, money lending, guarantee, printing, leasing, and agency services. The company was incorporated in 1895 and is headquartered in Numazu, Japan.