Reviewing Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) & Fidelity D & D Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDBC)

Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ:NWBI) and Fidelity D & D Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.3% of Northwest Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.1% of Fidelity D & D Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Northwest Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of Fidelity D & D Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Northwest Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Fidelity D & D Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Northwest Bancshares pays out 98.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Fidelity D & D Bancorp pays out 55.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelity D & D Bancorp has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Northwest Bancshares and Fidelity D & D Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northwest Bancshares	14.28%	8.72%	0.93%
Fidelity D & D Bancorp	14.14%	11.27%	0.84%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Northwest Bancshares and Fidelity D & D Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northwest Bancshares	$701.74 million	2.41	$134.96 million	$0.81	16.38
Fidelity D & D Bancorp	$105.24 million	2.76	$18.21 million	$2.75	18.43

Northwest Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Fidelity D & D Bancorp. Northwest Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fidelity D & D Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Northwest Bancshares has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fidelity D & D Bancorp has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Northwest Bancshares and Fidelity D & D Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northwest Bancshares	1	1	0	0	1.50
Fidelity D & D Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Northwest Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential downside of 17.11%. Given Northwest Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Northwest Bancshares is more favorable than Fidelity D & D Bancorp.

Summary

Northwest Bancshares beats Fidelity D & D Bancorp on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Northwest Bancshares

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Northwest Bank, a state-chartered savings bank that provides personal and business banking solutions. The company accepts various deposits, including checking, savings, money market deposit, term certificate, and individual retirement accounts. It also offers loan products comprising one-to-four-family residential real estate loans, shorter term consumer loans, and loans collateralized by multi-family residential and commercial real estate; home equity loans and lines of credit; commercial business and real estate loans; commercial loans; and consumer loans, including automobile loans, sales finance loans, unsecured personal loans, credit card loans, and loans secured by investment accounts, as well as investment management and trust services. The company operates community banking locations in Pennsylvania, Western New York, Eastern Ohio, and Indiana. Northwest Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

About Fidelity D & D Bancorp

Fidelity D & D Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank that provides a range of banking, trust, and financial services to individuals, small businesses, and corporate customers. The company accepts savings, club, interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking, money market, and short- and long-term time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, consumer, and residential mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides alternative financial and insurance products with asset management services. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.