Head to Head Survey: Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) and Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG)

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) and Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Truist Financial and Bankwell Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Truist Financial	$30.44 billion	1.91	$5.31 billion	$4.36	10.92
Bankwell Financial Group	$207.71 million	2.55	$35.20 million	$5.35	12.43

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.3% of Truist Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.8% of Bankwell Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Truist Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of Bankwell Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Truist Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Bankwell Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Truist Financial pays out 47.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bankwell Financial Group pays out 15.0% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Truist Financial and Bankwell Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Truist Financial	2	8	7	0	2.29
Bankwell Financial Group	0	1	2	1	3.00

Truist Financial currently has a consensus price target of $55.12, indicating a potential upside of 15.73%. Bankwell Financial Group has a consensus price target of $67.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.53%. Given Truist Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Truist Financial is more favorable than Bankwell Financial Group.

Profitability

This table compares Truist Financial and Bankwell Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Truist Financial	19.13%	10.06%	1.09%
Bankwell Financial Group	19.80%	13.94%	1.27%

Risk and Volatility

Truist Financial has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bankwell Financial Group has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bankwell Financial Group beats Truist Financial on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Truist Financial

Truist Financial Corporation, a financial services company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings.Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides funding; asset management; automobile lending; credit card lending; consumer finance; home equity and mortgage lending; other direct retail lending; insurance; investment brokerage; mobile/online banking; payment solutions; point-of-sale lending; retail and small business deposit products; small business lending; and wealth management/private banking services. In addition, it offers asset based lending, investment banking and capital market, institutional trust, insurance premium finance, derivatives, commercial lending, international banking, leasing, merchant, commercial deposit and treasury, floor plan, mortgage warehouse lending, real estate lending, and supply chain financing services. Further, the company provides insurance brokerage, retail and wholesale brokerage, securities underwriting and market making, loan syndication, and investment management and advisory services. The company was formerly known as BB&T Corporation and changed its name to Truist Financial Corporation in December 2019. Truist Financial Corporation was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bankwell Bank that provides various banking services for individual and commercial customers. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides first mortgage loans secured by one-to-four family owner occupied residential properties for personal use; home equity loans and home equity lines of credit secured by owner occupied one-to-four family residential properties; loans secured by commercial real estate, multi-family dwellings, owner-occupied commercial real estate, and investor-owned one-to-four family dwellings; commercial construction loans for commercial development projects, including apartment buildings and condominiums, as well as office buildings, retail, and other income producing properties; land loans; commercial business loans secured by assignments of corporate assets and personal guarantees of the business owners; loans to finance insurance premiums; overdraft lines of credit; and unsecured personal loans. It operates branches in New Canaan, Stamford, Fairfield, Westport, Darien, Norwalk, and Hamden, Connecticut. The company was formerly known as BNC Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. in September 2013. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut.