Contrasting KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) & Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS)

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) and Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for KBC Group and Pioneer Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KBC Group	1	3	3	0	2.29
Pioneer Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares KBC Group and Pioneer Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KBC Group	$26.56 billion	2.04	$4.04 billion	$5.26	12.31
Pioneer Bancorp	$104.65 million	4.36	$13.41 million	$0.54	33.98

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

Volatility and Risk

KBC Group has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pioneer Bancorp has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares KBC Group and Pioneer Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KBC Group	15.58%	13.42%	0.94%
Pioneer Bancorp	N/A	4.05%	0.58%

Summary

KBC Group beats Pioneer Bancorp on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KBC Group

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services. It also provides digital and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as KBC Bank and Insurance Holding Company NV and changed its name to KBC Group NV in March 2005. KBC Group NV was incorporated in 1935 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

About Pioneer Bancorp

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Pioneer Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services in New York. The company accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. Its loan products include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, commercial construction, residential mortgage lending, consumer loans, and home equity lines of credit. The company also invests in the U.S. governmental securities, fixed rate collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage-backed securities, fixed-rate investment grade bonds, and equity securities. In addition, the company offers personal and commercial insurance products, including homeowners, automobile, and comprehensive business insurance; employee benefit products and services, such as group health, dental, disability, and life insurance products, as well as defined contribution, defined benefit administration, and human resource management services; and wealth management services comprising investment advice, retirement income planning, estate planning, business succession, and employer retirement planning. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Albany, New York. Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC.