Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) & Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI) Financial Review

Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI) and Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Customers Bancorp has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.3% of Customers Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Customers Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Customers Bancorp and Pathward Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Customers Bancorp	19.11%	13.73%	1.14%
Pathward Financial	21.11%	20.82%	2.40%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Customers Bancorp and Pathward Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Customers Bancorp	$913.93 million	3.12	$224.09 million	$8.25	10.24
Pathward Financial	$684.00 million	2.33	$175.67 million	$8.14	9.42

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Customers Bancorp and Pathward Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Customers Bancorp	1	4	6	1	2.58
Pathward Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00

Customers Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $94.36, suggesting a potential upside of 11.66%. Pathward Financial has a consensus price target of $101.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.78%. Given Pathward Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than Customers Bancorp.

Summary

Customers Bancorp beats Pathward Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Customers Bancorp

Customers Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Customers Bank that provides financial products and services to individual consumers, and small and middle market businesses. The company provides deposit banking products, which includes commercial and consumer checking, non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing demand, MMDA, savings, and time deposit accounts. Its lending business offers commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and multifamily and residential mortgage loans; SBA lending and financing; specialty lending includes fund finance, real estate specialty finance, technology and venture, and healthcare and financial institutions group; commercial loans to mortgage companies, and commercial equipment financing; and fund finance, such as variable rate loans secured by collateral pools to private debt funds; and cash management services. In addition, the company provides digital banking including Banking-as-a-Service to fintech companies, payments and treasury services to businesses, and consumer loans through fintech companies and the TassatPay, a blockchain-based instant B2B payments platform which offers instant payments including over-the-counter desks, exchanges, liquidity providers, market makers, funds, and other B2B verticals. Further, it offers mobile phone and internet banking, wire transfers, electronic bill payment, lock box, remote deposit capture, courier, merchant processing, cash vault, controlled disbursements, positive pay, and cash management services, such as account reconciliation, collections, and sweep accounts. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

About Pathward Financial

Pathward Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts. The company also provides commercial finance product comprising term lending, asset-based lending, factoring, lease financing, insurance premium finance, government guaranteed lending, and other commercial finance products; consumer credit products; other consumer financing services; tax services, which includes short-term refund advance loans and short-term electronic return originator advance loans; and warehouse financing services. In addition, it issues prepaid cards; and offers payment solutions, such as acceptance, processing, and settlement of credit card and debit card payments. The company was formerly known as Meta Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Pathward Financial, Inc. in July 2022. Pathward Financial, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.