Financial Contrast: Abrdn (OTCMKTS:SLFPY) versus Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU)

Abrdn (OTCMKTS:SLFPY) and Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Abrdn and Community Financial System, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Abrdn	0	2	0	0	2.00
Community Financial System	0	4	1	0	2.20

Community Financial System has a consensus target price of $66.67, suggesting a potential upside of 5.41%. Given Community Financial System’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Community Financial System is more favorable than Abrdn.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.8% of Community Financial System shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Community Financial System shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Abrdn has a beta of 1.51, meaning that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Financial System has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Abrdn and Community Financial System”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Abrdn	$1.68 billion	3.21	$526.16 million	N/A	N/A
Community Financial System	$818.29 million	4.06	$210.46 million	$3.97	15.93

Abrdn has higher revenue and earnings than Community Financial System.

Profitability

This table compares Abrdn and Community Financial System’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Abrdn	N/A	N/A	N/A
Community Financial System	20.82%	11.09%	1.26%

Dividends

Abrdn pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Community Financial System pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Community Financial System pays out 47.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Community Financial System has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years.

Summary

Community Financial System beats Abrdn on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Abrdn

abrdn plc provides asset management services in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and Asia. The company offers investment solutions and funds; long-term savings and investment products to individual and corporate customers; and life insurance and savings products. It provides its products through institutional, wholesale, and retail distribution channels. It also makes real estate investments. The company was formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen plc. abrdn plc was founded in 1825 and is headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

About Community Financial System

Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and check credit lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management services; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that provides personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it offers contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration and benefit consulting, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, and health and welfare consulting services; and act as an investor in residential and commercial real estate activities. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and insurance and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.