Reviewing Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) & Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC)

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) and Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wintrust Financial and Commercial National Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wintrust Financial	$3.97 billion	2.44	$695.04 million	$10.88	13.26
Commercial National Financial	$29.17 million	N/A	$5.86 million	$1.69	8.17

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

Volatility & Risk

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commercial National Financial has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Wintrust Financial and Commercial National Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0	2	11	1	2.93
Commercial National Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus price target of $154.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.05%. Given Wintrust Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than Commercial National Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Wintrust Financial and Commercial National Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	18.85%	12.82%	1.20%
Commercial National Financial	23.49%	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.0% of Commercial National 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.

Dividends

Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Commercial National Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Wintrust Financial pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Commercial National Financial pays out 33.1% 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. Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats Commercial National Financial on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

About Commercial National Financial

Commercial National Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Commercial Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, agricultural businesses, commercial businesses, and light industries in Michigan. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and health savings accounts. It also offers personal loan products, such as automobile loans, recreational vehicle loans, personal lines of credit, and unsecured term loans, as well as home equity loans and mortgage loans; and business loans, including secured lines of credit, business equity line of credit, SBA loans, equipment loans, real estate loans, vehicle loans, term loans, USDA loan programs, and capital access loan programs. In addition, the company provides other services comprising business VISA check cards, debit and ATM cards, business statement savings, business certificates of deposit, merchant services, night depository, telephone banking, online banking, e-statements, direct deposit of payroll for employees, child support payments, collection of receivables, and remote deposit capture, as well as treasury services. It provides its services through offices located in Barry, Gratiot, Ingham, Kent, and Montcalm counties in Michigan. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Ithaca, Michigan.