Reviewing Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) and Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) and Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.8% of Community Financial System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of Upstart shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Community Financial System shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of Upstart shares are held 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 Community Financial System and Upstart’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Financial System	20.72%	11.09%	1.23%
Upstart	3.33%	3.68%	1.02%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Community Financial System and Upstart”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Financial System	$798.84 million	3.76	$182.48 million	$3.88	14.71
Upstart	$636.53 million	5.67	-$128.58 million	$0.22	168.59

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

Risk and Volatility

Community Financial System has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Upstart has a beta of 2.26, meaning that its share price is 126% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Community Financial System and Upstart, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Financial System	0	3	0	0	2.00
Upstart	1	7	6	0	2.36

Community Financial System presently has a consensus price target of $68.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.15%. Upstart has a consensus price target of $64.58, suggesting a potential upside of 74.13%. Given Upstart’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Upstart is more favorable than Community Financial System.

About Community Financial System

Community Bank System, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; paycheck protection program loans; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and check credit lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; cash management, investment, and treasury services; asset management services; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that provides personal and commercial lines of insurance, and other risk management products and services. Further, it offers contribution plan administration, employee benefit trust, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration and benefit consulting, fund administration, transfer agency, actuarial and benefit consulting, and health and welfare consulting services; and act as an investor in residential and commercial real estate activities. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, retirement planning, higher educational planning, fiduciary, risk management, trust, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and insurance and advisory products, as well as master recordkeeping services. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions. Upstart Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.