Critical Review: Jeffersonville Bancorp (OTCMKTS:JFBC) and Comerica (NYSE:CMA)

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) and Jeffersonville Bancorp (OTCMKTS:JFBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Comerica and Jeffersonville Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Comerica	$3.20 billion	2.67	$881.00 million	$4.00	16.25
Jeffersonville Bancorp	$32.18 million	2.53	$11.18 million	$2.48	7.75

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Comerica and Jeffersonville Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comerica	3	12	8	0	2.22
Jeffersonville Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Comerica currently has a consensus price target of $67.14, suggesting a potential upside of 3.29%. Given Comerica’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Comerica is more favorable than Jeffersonville Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.7% of Comerica shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Comerica shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Jeffersonville Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Comerica and Jeffersonville Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comerica	11.17%	12.54%	0.94%
Jeffersonville Bancorp	N/A	12.96%	1.52%

Dividends

Comerica pays an annual dividend of $2.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Jeffersonville Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Comerica pays out 71.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Jeffersonville Bancorp pays out 24.2% 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.

Volatility & Risk

Comerica has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jeffersonville Bancorp has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Comerica beats Jeffersonville Bancorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Comerica

Comerica Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services. The company operates through Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Wealth Management, and Finance segments. The Commercial Bank segment offers various products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, payment solutions, card services, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services, and loan syndication services for small and middle market businesses, multinational corporations, and governmental entities. The Retail Bank segment provides personal financial services, such as consumer lending, consumer deposit gathering, and mortgage loan origination; and various consumer products that include deposit accounts, installment loans, credit cards, student loans, home equity lines of credit, and residential mortgage loans. The Wealth Management segment offers products and services comprising financial planning, trust and fiduciary services, investment management and advisory, brokerage, private banking, and business transition planning services for affluents, high-net worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, business owners, and executives, and institutional clients. The Finance segment comprises securities portfolio, and asset and liability management activities. It operates in Texas, California, Michigan, Arizona, and Florida, the United States; and Canada and Mexico. The company was formerly known as DETROITBANK Corporation and changed its name to Comerica Incorporated in July 1982. Comerica Incorporated was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Jeffersonville Bancorp

Jeffersonville Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Jeff Bank that provides community banking services to individuals, small businesses, and local municipal governments primarily in Sullivan County, New York. The company offers various deposit products, such as checking, money market, savings, and NOW, as well as demand and time deposits. It also offers commercial mortgage, farmland, construction, real estate, agricultural, residential mortgage, home equity, consumer, installment, and other consumer loans. The company was founded in 1913 and is based in Jeffersonville, New York.