CBU vs. EWBC, FHN, SSB, CBSH, WBS, WAL, CFR, PNFP, WTFC, and ZION
Should you be buying Community Bank System stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Community Bank System include East West Bancorp (EWBC), First Horizon (FHN), SouthState (SSB), Commerce Bancshares (CBSH), Webster Financial (WBS), Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL), Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR), Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP), Wintrust Financial (WTFC), and Zions Bancorporation, National Association (ZION). These companies are all part of the "regional banks" industry.
Community Bank System vs.
Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) and East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, community ranking, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and analyst recommendations.
East West Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Community Bank System. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Community Bank System, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, East West Bancorp had 27 more articles in the media than Community Bank System. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for East West Bancorp and 7 mentions for Community Bank System. Community Bank System's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat East West Bancorp's score of 0.58 indicating that Community Bank System is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Community Bank System pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Community Bank System pays out 53.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. East West Bancorp pays out 28.8% 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. Community Bank System has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Community Bank System is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
East West Bancorp has a net margin of 25.73% compared to Community Bank System's net margin of 19.40%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.71% beat Community Bank System's return on equity.
Community Bank System presently has a consensus price target of $71.00, indicating a potential upside of 34.02%. East West Bancorp has a consensus price target of $106.46, indicating a potential upside of 40.43%. Given East West Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than Community Bank System.
East West Bancorp received 358 more outperform votes than Community Bank System when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.64% of users gave East West Bancorp an outperform vote while only 47.79% of users gave Community Bank System an outperform vote.
73.8% of Community Bank System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Community Bank System shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Community Bank System has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, East West Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
East West Bancorp beats Community Bank System on 17 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NYSE:CBU) was last updated on 4/16/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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