Reviewing ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) & Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH)

ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Dividends

ACNB pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Washington Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.5%. ACNB pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Washington Trust Bancorp pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. ACNB has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACNB	27.53%	12.12%	1.32%
Washington Trust Bancorp	12.01%	10.18%	0.65%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.4% of ACNB shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of ACNB shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ACNB and Washington Trust Bancorp’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACNB	$115.08 million	2.51	$31.69 million	$3.72	9.13
Washington Trust Bancorp	$193.24 million	2.33	$48.18 million	$2.71	9.77

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

Volatility & Risk

ACNB has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Washington Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for ACNB and Washington Trust Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACNB	0	3	0	0	2.00
Washington Trust Bancorp	1	1	0	0	1.50

ACNB presently has a consensus target price of $42.33, suggesting a potential upside of 24.58%. Given ACNB’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe ACNB is more favorable than Washington Trust Bancorp.

Summary

ACNB beats Washington Trust Bancorp on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Washington Trust Bancorp

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company, of Westerly that provides various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. The company operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management Services. The Commercial Banking segment offers deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand deposits, NOW and savings accounts, money market and retirement deposit accounts, and time deposits; various commercial and retail lending products, such as commercial real estate loans, including commercial mortgages, and construction and development loans; commercial and industrial loans comprising working capital, equipment financing, and financing for other business-related purposes; residential real estate loans that consist of mortgage and homeowner construction loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, personal installment loans, and loans to individuals secured by general aviation aircraft. This segment also provides debit cards; automated teller machines (ATMs); telephone banking, internet banking, mobile banking, remote deposit capture, and other cash management services; and investment portfolio and wholesale funding services. The Wealth Management Services segment offers investment management; financial planning; personal trust and estate services, such as trustee, personal representative, custodian, and guardian; and settlement of decedents' estates, as well as institutional trust services comprising custody and fiduciary services for personal and institutional clients. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1800 and is headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island.