Contrasting WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) & Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF)

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) and Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares WesBanco and Chesapeake Financial Shares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WesBanco	11.65%	7.29%	1.00%
Chesapeake Financial Shares	4.57%	10.29%	0.74%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.4% of WesBanco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.7% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of WesBanco shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 39.5% of Chesapeake Financial Shares 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for WesBanco and Chesapeake Financial Shares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WesBanco	0	3	3	1	2.71
Chesapeake Financial Shares	0	0	0	0	0.00

WesBanco currently has a consensus price target of $39.17, suggesting a potential upside of 22.43%. Given WesBanco’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe WesBanco is more favorable than Chesapeake Financial Shares.

Dividends

WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. WesBanco pays out 89.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays out 69.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WesBanco and Chesapeake Financial Shares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WesBanco	$953.62 million	3.22	$151.51 million	$1.66	19.27
Chesapeake Financial Shares	$99.39 million	1.05	$11.43 million	$0.92	24.18

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

Risk and Volatility

WesBanco has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chesapeake Financial Shares has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

WesBanco beats Chesapeake Financial Shares on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Chesapeake Financial Shares

Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Chesapeake Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts interest and noninterest checking, savings, and money market accounts; and variable-rate and fixed-term money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers mortgage, and single-family residential and residential construction loans; commercial loans, which include owner-occupied commercial development, retail, builders/contractors, medical, service and professional, hospitality, nonprofits, marine industry, and agricultural and seafood loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company provides merchant processing, accounts receivable financing, wealth management and trust, and mortgage banking services, as well as cash management services. The company was founded in 1900 and is based in Kilmarnock, Virginia.