Head-To-Head Comparison: Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC)

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Republic Bancorp and WesBanco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Republic Bancorp	25.38%	11.32%	1.76%
WesBanco	23.35%	9.72%	1.34%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Republic Bancorp and WesBanco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Republic Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
WesBanco	0	3	3	1	2.71

Republic Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $98.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.57%. WesBanco has a consensus target price of $43.20, indicating a potential upside of 2.10%. Given WesBanco’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WesBanco is more favorable than Republic Bancorp.

Dividends

Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Republic Bancorp pays out 30.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco pays out 44.2% 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. Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years and WesBanco has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are held by institutional investors. 55.9% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of WesBanco shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Republic Bancorp and WesBanco”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Republic Bancorp	$521.34 million	3.79	$131.32 million	$6.55	15.36
WesBanco	$1.44 billion	2.82	$223.10 million	$3.44	12.30

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

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. It offers commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans; retail loans, such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and loans for other consumer purposes; installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as home equity installment loans, unsecured home improvement loans, and revolving lines of credit; and various non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services. The company also provides trust services; and various alternative investment products, including mutual funds and annuities. In addition, it acts as an agency that specializes in property, casualty, life, and title insurance, as well as benefit plan sales and administration to personal and commercial clients; provides broker dealer and discount brokerage services; holds investment securities and loans; and holds and leases commercial real estate properties, as well as acts as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds. WesBanco, Inc. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia.