Reviewing Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) & ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB)

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) and ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.4% of ACNB shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of ACNB shares are owned by 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

Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. ACNB pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ACNB pays out 37.0% 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. Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. ACNB is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ACNB has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Fifth Third Bancorp and ACNB, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fifth Third Bancorp	0	9	7	0	2.44
ACNB	0	2	0	0	2.00

Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $37.21, indicating a potential upside of 3.18%. ACNB has a consensus target price of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.21%. Given ACNB’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ACNB is more favorable than Fifth Third Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Fifth Third Bancorp and ACNB’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fifth Third Bancorp	17.70%	16.11%	1.22%
ACNB	24.98%	11.00%	1.23%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fifth Third Bancorp and ACNB’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fifth Third Bancorp	$8.42 billion	2.93	$2.35 billion	$3.15	11.45
ACNB	$115.08 million	2.43	$31.69 million	$3.46	9.47

Fifth Third Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than ACNB. ACNB is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fifth Third Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Fifth Third Bancorp beats ACNB on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Fifth Third Bank, National Association that engages in the provision of a range of financial products and services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers. The Consumer and Small Banking segment provides a range of deposit and loan products to individuals and small businesses; home equity loans and lines of credit; credit cards; and cash management services. This segment also engages in the residential mortgage that include origination, retention and servicing of residential mortgage loans, sales and securitizations of loans, and hedging activities; indirect lending, including extending loans to consumers through automobile dealers, motorcycle dealers, powersport dealers, recreational vehicle dealers, and marine dealers; and home improvement and solar energy installation loans through contractors and installers. The Wealth & Asset Management segment provides various wealth management services for individuals, companies, and not-for-profit organizations. It offers retail brokerage services to individual clients; and broker dealer services to the institutional marketplace. This segment also provides wealth planning, investment management, banking, insurance, and trust and estate services; and advisory services for institutional clients comprising middle market businesses, non-profits, states, and municipalities. The company was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

About ACNB

ACNB Corporation, a financial holding company, offers banking, insurance, and financial services to individual, business, and government customers in the United States. The company provides checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits and debit cards. It also offers commercial lending products, such as commercial mortgages, real estate development and construction loans, accounts receivable and inventory financing, and agricultural and governmental loans; consumer lending products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile and recreational vehicle loans, manufactured housing loans, and personal lines of credit; and mortgage lending programs include personal residential mortgages, and residential construction and investment mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides other services that are related to testamentary trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney, custodial accounts, and investment management and advisory accounts; and retail brokerage services. Further, it acts as a trustee to invest in, protect, manage, and distribute financial assets. Additionally, the company offers property and casualty, health, life, and disability insurance products to commercial and personal clients; and online, telephone, and mobile banking, as well as automated teller machine services. ACNB Corporation was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.