TowneBank (TOWN) Competitors

TowneBank (NASDAQ:TOWN) and Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, earnings and media sentiment.

Does the media favor TOWN or WBS?

In the previous week, Webster Financial had 7 more articles in the media than TowneBank. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Webster Financial and 3 mentions for TowneBank. Webster Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.02 beat TowneBank's score of 0.86 indicating that Webster Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
TowneBank	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Webster Financial	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is TOWN or WBS a better dividend stock?

TowneBank pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. TowneBank pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Webster Financial pays out 36.3% 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. TowneBank has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. TowneBank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, TOWN or WBS?

TowneBank has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Webster Financial has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend TOWN or WBS?

TowneBank presently has a consensus price target of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.12%. Webster Financial has a consensus price target of $57.85, suggesting a potential downside of 2.86%. Given TowneBank's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe TowneBank is more favorable than Webster Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TowneBank	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, TOWN or WBS?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TowneBank	$941.58M	2.78	$153.71M	$1.99	17.54
Webster Financial	$3.94B	2.59	$867.84M	$4.41	13.50

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in TOWN or WBS?

Webster Financial received 324 more outperform votes than TowneBank when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.76% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote while only 54.93% of users gave TowneBank an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
TowneBank	Outperform Votes 206 54.93%	Underperform Votes 169 45.07%
Webster Financial	Outperform Votes 530 58.76%	Underperform Votes 372 41.24%

Is TOWN or WBS more profitable?

Webster Financial has a net margin of 18.80% compared to TowneBank's net margin of 14.89%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 11.03% beat TowneBank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TowneBank	14.89%	7.41%	0.91%
Webster Financial	18.80%	11.03%	1.23%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of TOWN or WBS?

56.0% of TowneBank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Webster Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 8.1% of TowneBank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Webster Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Webster Financial beats TowneBank on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.