Analyzing Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) & Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP)

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (NASDAQ:UVSP) and Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania and Kearny Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania	0	3	0	1	2.50
Kearny Financial	1	0	3	0	2.50

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania presently has a consensus price target of $40.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.20%. Kearny Financial has a consensus price target of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.71%. Given Kearny Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Kearny Financial is more favorable than Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.1% of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.0% of Kearny Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of Kearny Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kearny Financial has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania and Kearny Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania	$518.35 million	2.18	$90.76 million	$3.35	12.24
Kearny Financial	$179.84 million	3.36	$36.26 million	$0.58	16.06

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

Dividends

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kearny Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kearny Financial pays out 75.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania and Kearny Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania	17.95%	9.93%	1.14%
Kearny Financial	10.57%	5.01%	0.50%

Summary

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania beats Kearny Financial on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania

Univest Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Univest Bank and Trust Co. that provides banking products and services primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance. The Banking segment offers a range of banking services, such as deposit taking, loan origination and servicing, mortgage banking, other general banking, and equipment lease financing services for individuals, businesses, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations. Its Wealth Management segment provides investment advisory, financial planning, and trust and brokerage services for private families and individuals, municipal pension plans, retirement plans, and trusts and guardianships. The Insurance segment offers commercial property and casualty insurance, employee benefits solutions, personal insurance lines, and human resources consulting services. The company was formerly known as Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania and changed its name to Univest Financial Corporation in January 2019. The company was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Souderton, Pennsylvania.

About Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides various loans, such as multi-family and nonresidential real estate mortgage loans, commercial term loans and lines of credit, one- to four-family residential mortgage loans, and home equity loans and lines of credit; loans to individuals, builders, or developers for the construction of multi-family residential buildings or commercial real estate, or for the construction or renovation of one- to four-family residences; overdraft lines of credit; and personal loans. In addition, it engages in the investment activities. Kearny Financial Corp. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey.