Head to Head Contrast: TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) & WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC)

TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WesBanco has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares TrustCo Bank Corp NY and WesBanco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	22.76%	9.62%	1.01%
WesBanco	23.35%	9.72%	1.34%

Dividends

TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WesBanco pays out 44.2% 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. WesBanco has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for TrustCo Bank Corp NY and WesBanco, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	1	0	3.00
WesBanco	0	3	3	1	2.71

WesBanco has a consensus target price of $43.20, suggesting a potential upside of 11.70%. Given WesBanco’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WesBanco is more favorable than TrustCo Bank Corp NY.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of WesBanco shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of WesBanco shares are held by company 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares TrustCo Bank Corp NY and WesBanco”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$278.36 million	3.44	$61.14 million	$3.60	15.62
WesBanco	$1.44 billion	2.58	$223.10 million	$3.44	11.24

WesBanco has higher revenue and earnings than TrustCo Bank Corp NY. WesBanco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TrustCo Bank Corp NY, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

WesBanco beats TrustCo Bank Corp NY on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY operates as the holding company for Trustco Bank, a federal savings bank that provides personal and business banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts deposits; and offers loans and investments. It also operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, holds, and manages real estate mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company serves as the executor of estates and trustee of personal trusts; provides asset and wealth management, estate planning and related advice, and custodial services; and acts as trustee for various types of employee benefit plans, and corporate pension and profit-sharing trusts. It operates through banking offices in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester counties of New York; Brevard, Charlotte, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida; Bennington County in Vermont; Berkshire County in Massachusetts; and Bergen County in New Jersey, as well as automatic teller machines. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glenville, New York.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. It offers commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans; retail loans, such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and loans for other consumer purposes; installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as home equity installment loans, unsecured home improvement loans, and revolving lines of credit; and various non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services. The company also provides trust services; and various alternative investment products, including mutual funds and annuities. In addition, it acts as an agency that specializes in property, casualty, life, and title insurance, as well as benefit plan sales and administration to personal and commercial clients; provides broker dealer and discount brokerage services; holds investment securities and loans; and holds and leases commercial real estate properties, as well as acts as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds. WesBanco, Inc. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia.