Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP) and Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) Critical Contrast

Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP) and Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.1% of Perella Weinberg Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.8% of Community Financial System shares are held by institutional investors. 26.1% of Perella Weinberg Partners shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Community Financial System shares are held by company 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.

Risk and Volatility

Perella Weinberg Partners has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Financial System has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Perella Weinberg Partners and Community Financial System”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perella Weinberg Partners	$750.90 million	1.92	$35.48 million	$0.24	64.67
Community Financial System	$1.01 billion	3.30	$210.46 million	$4.12	15.40

Community Financial System has higher revenue and earnings than Perella Weinberg Partners. Community Financial System is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Perella Weinberg Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Perella Weinberg Partners and Community Financial System’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perella Weinberg Partners	2.82%	-19.90%	6.78%
Community Financial System	21.26%	11.24%	1.28%

Dividends

Perella Weinberg Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Perella Weinberg Partners pays out 116.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Community Financial System pays out 45.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Financial System has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Community Financial System 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 price targets for Perella Weinberg Partners and Community Financial System, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perella Weinberg Partners	1	1	2	0	2.25
Community Financial System	0	4	1	1	2.50

Perella Weinberg Partners presently has a consensus target price of $23.50, suggesting a potential upside of 51.42%. Community Financial System has a consensus target price of $69.75, suggesting a potential upside of 9.94%. Given Perella Weinberg Partners’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Perella Weinberg Partners is more favorable than Community Financial System.

Summary

Community Financial System beats Perella Weinberg Partners on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners, an independent investment banking company, provides strategic and financial advice services in the United States and internationally. The company offers advisory services related to strategic and financial decisions, mergers and acquisition execution, shareholder and defense advisory, and financing and capital solutions advice with resources focused on restructuring, liability management, and capital markets advisory, as well as underwriting and research services primarily for the energy and related industries. It serves public multinational corporations, mid-sized public and private companies, financial sponsors, individual entrepreneurs, private and institutional investors, creditor committees, and government institutions in consumer and retail; energy and energy transition; financial services and FinTech; healthcare; industrials and infrastructure; and technology, telecommunication, and media industries. Perella Weinberg Partners is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Community Financial System

Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and check credit lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management services; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that provides personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it offers contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration and benefit consulting, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, and health and welfare consulting services; and act as an investor in residential and commercial real estate activities. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and insurance and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.