Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) versus SVB Financial Group (OTCMKTS:SIVBQ) Critical Survey

SVB Financial Group (OTCMKTS:SIVBQ) and Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

SVB Financial Group has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norwood Financial has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.7% of SVB Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.1% of Norwood Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of SVB Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.3% of Norwood Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for SVB Financial Group and Norwood Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SVB Financial Group	0	0	0	0	N/A
Norwood Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SVB Financial Group and Norwood Financial’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SVB Financial Group	$7.40 billion	0.00	$1.67 billion	N/A	N/A
Norwood Financial	$68.90 million	2.84	$16.76 million	$1.91	12.65

SVB Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Norwood Financial.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SVB Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Norwood Financial	14.14%	8.80%	0.70%

Summary

Norwood Financial beats SVB Financial Group on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SVB Financial Group

SVB Financial Group, a diversified financial services company, offers various banking and financial products and services. It operates through four segments: Silicon Valley Bank, SVB Private, SVB Capital, and SVB Securities. The Silicon Valley Bank segment provides commercial banking products and services, including credit, treasury management, foreign exchange, trade finance, and other financial products and services. This segment also offers traditional term, growth capital term, and equipment loans, asset-based loans, revolving lines of credit, warehouse facilities, recurring revenue and acquisition finance facilities, mezzanine lending, corporate working capital facilities, and credit card programs; treasury management products and services; business and analysis checking, money market, multi-currency, in-country bank, and sweep accounts; receivables services, which include merchant services, remote capture, lockbox, and fraud control services; wire transfer and automated clearing house payment services; business bill pay, credit and debit cards, account analysis, and disbursement services. In addition, it offers foreign exchange and trade finance products and services; letters of credit; and investment services and solutions. The SVB Private segment offers mortgages, home equity lines of credit, restricted and private stock loans, capital call lines of credit, and other secured and unsecured lending products; planning-based financial strategies, wealth management, family office, financial planning, tax planning, and trust services; and real estate secured loans. The SVB Capital segment provides venture capital investment services. The SVB Securities segment provides investment banking services; products and services, including capital raising, merger and acquisition advisory, equity research, and sales and trading. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. On March 17, 2023, SVB Financial Group, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

About Norwood Financial

Norwood Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Wayne Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts a range of deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing transaction accounts, and statement savings and money market accounts, as well as certificate of deposits. It also provides commercial loans comprising lines of credit, revolving credit, term loans, mortgages, secured lending products, and letter of credit facilities; municipal finance lending; construction loans for commercial construction projects and single-family residences; land loans; construction financing; consumer loans; mortgage lending to finance principal residences and second home dwellings; and indirect dealer financing of new and used automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles. In addition, the company offers investment securities services; personal and business credit services; trust and investment products; and cash management, direct deposit, remote deposit capture, mobile deposit capture, automated clearing house activity, real estate settlement, and Internet and mobile banking services. Further, it engages in the annuity and mutual fund sale, and discount brokerage activities, as well as insurance agency business. The company serves consumers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities. It operates branches in Northeastern Pennsylvania; and in Delaware, Sullivan, Ontario, Otsego, and Yates Counties, New York, as well as automated teller machines. Norwood Financial Corp. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.