Freedom Financial (OTCMKTS:FDVA) versus Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) Financial Contrast

Freedom Financial (OTCMKTS:FDVA) and Peoples Financial Services (NASDAQ:PFIS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Freedom Financial and Peoples Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Freedom Financial	$66.41 million	1.25	$4.71 million	$0.60	19.42
Peoples Financial Services	$182.72 million	2.73	$8.50 million	$3.35	14.91

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

Profitability

This table compares Freedom Financial and Peoples Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freedom Financial	6.54%	5.24%	0.40%
Peoples Financial Services	11.80%	12.20%	1.14%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

31.7% of Peoples Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Peoples Financial Services shares are owned by company 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.

Risk and Volatility

Freedom Financial has a beta of 0.2, indicating that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Financial Services has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Freedom Financial and Peoples Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freedom Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Peoples Financial Services	0	1	1	0	2.50

Peoples Financial Services has a consensus price target of $53.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.11%. Given Peoples Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Peoples Financial Services is more favorable than Freedom Financial.

Summary

Peoples Financial Services beats Freedom Financial on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Freedom Financial

Freedom Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Freedom Bank of Virginia that provides commercial banking, personal banking, and mortgage banking solutions. The company offers personal and business checking accounts, interest bearing business savings accounts, money market accounts, personal savings accounts, certificates of deposits, and IRAs, as well as insured cash sweep and certificate of deposit account registry services. It also provides business term, personal, and mortgage loans; commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate mortgage and small business lending services; home equity lines; and credit cards. In addition, the company offers treasury management, online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, ACH, and wire transfer services; business valuation, bank-at-work, and merchant services; and prestige banking services. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

About Peoples Financial Services

Peoples Financial Services Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company that provides various commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts. It also provides residential real estate, automobile, manufactured housing, personal, and home equity loans; and commercial real estate, working capital, construction, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as loans for equipment and other commercial needs, and mineral rights. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment services; investment management, IRA trustee, estate administration, living and life insurance trust, trustee under will, guardianship, custodial/IRA custodial, and corporate trust services, as well as pension and profit-sharing plans. Further, it provides wealth management products and services comprising investment portfolio management, estate and business succession planning, annuities, insurance, retirement plan, and tax planning, as well as education funding strategies; and securities, brokerage, and investor services. Additionally, the company offers small business checking and merchant money market accounts, online and telephone banking, business credit cards, merchant line of credit, and financial checkup services; and remote deposit capture, automatic clearing house transaction, cash management, automated teller machine, point of sale transaction, safe deposit box, night depository, direct deposit, and official check services. It serves business, non-profit, governmental, municipal agency, and professional customers, as well as retail customers. Peoples Financial Services Corp. was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania.