Pathward Financial, Inc.
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Whoever buys today is betting on three things you would not have to bet on at an ordinary bank: that the big card partners and their cheap deposits stay, that the tax seasons hold, and that the regulator stays calm — and gets roughly 22 percent return on equity at a single-digit to low-double-digit price-to-earnings ratio in return. Whoever waits checks four things in each quarterly report (10-Q): does the net interest margin stay above 7 percent and the deposit base stable? Does fiscal Q2 carry the tax season (noninterest income last at $151.2 million in the March quarter)? Are there new supervisory or consent-order disclosures? And how much of the EPS growth still comes from the finite buyback authorization? The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Pathward is one of the most profitable niche banks on the U.S. market — and a lesson against the name trap: the Reddit feed still lists it as "Meta Financial Group," when in fact it is a bank in Sioux Falls that has shed its name twice. Its 7.34 percent interest margin (FY 2025) and roughly 22 percent return on equity are real, but they rest on two pillars only half its own: near-free deposits that belong to the card partners, and a profit that concentrates in tax season. Add a business model in the regulatory spotlight (OCC, BSA/AML, consent-order risk) and EPS growth that comes partly from buybacks rather than the business. That is precisely why the market pays only a price-to-earnings ratio around 10 for a double-digit return. Not investment advice.
Profitability & interest margin
Exceptional for a bank: a net interest margin of 7.34 percent (FY 2025) at a cost of deposits of just 0.09 percent, roughly 22 percent return on equity, and steadily rising net income ($163.6 million to $168.4 million to $185.9 million, FY 2023–2025). The interest engine runs as long as the cheap card-program deposits stay.
Deposit concentration
The moat is borrowed: roughly $5.9 billion of near-free deposits belong to the card partners, not to the bank. The annual report itself warns of "more significant" deposit outflows if "a major customer or card program" were to leave the Bank (10-K 2025, Item 1) — the greatest strength sits on the liability side, and that belongs to others.
Earnings quality & seasonality
The profit has a season: the tax refund-advance business (over 42,000 tax offices) concentrates earnings in fiscal Q2 — $72.9 million net in the March 2026 quarter versus $35.2 million in the December quarter. That is known and planned for, but it makes single quarters incomparable and hangs a large part of the year on a single season.
Regulation
The BaaS and tax model attracts supervision: the OCC as primary regulator, an explicit consent-order risk on BSA/AML breaches (10-K 2025, Item 1A), plus tax-refund-industry regulation. The biggest single risk is not an economic downturn but a letter from the regulator.
Capital policy & valuation
Shareholder-friendly and modestly valued: the repurchase program for up to 7.0 million shares cut the diluted share count from 26.9 million to 21.7 million, and EPS rose 31 percent as a result (FY 2023–2025). Price-to-earnings ratio around 10.5 at the company's own buyback level ($82.95, July 2025) — but part of the EPS growth is bought, not earned, and the authorization is finite.
Worth Noting
Pathward landed on our research list through the Reddit hype scanner (3 mentions in 24 hours, ApeWisdom, as of July 23, 2026) — and even there under the outdated name "Meta Financial Group." It is not a typical momentum or value scanner find but a profitable BaaS bank; classic momentum metrics find no grip on it.
Identity verified against SEC EDGAR (CIK 907471): formerNames "META FINANCIAL GROUP INC" (through July 13, 2022) and "FIRST MIDWEST FINANCIAL INC" (through 2005); SIC 6021 National Commercial Banks; U.S. domestic filer, no Form 15. Not to be confused with Meta Platforms, the Facebook parent (Nasdaq: META).
Price and valuation figures dated: the valuation anchor (average buyback price of $82.95) comes from the fiscal fourth quarter of 2025 (July 2025, 10-K); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. The fiscal year ends September 30, so "fiscal year 2025" essentially covers October 2024 through September 2025.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CASH since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 66.50 $ to 99.90 $ · Last price: 77.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Banks - Regional
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathward Financial, Inc. CASH | 1.8 | 9.9 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 38.2 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Mizuho Financial Group Inc. MFG | 135.7 | 17.4 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 46.7 | 10.4 | 70.5 |
| HDFC Bank Limited HDB | 116.5 | 15.8 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 33.3 | 24.3 | -33.2 |
| ICICI Bank Limited IBN | 101.0 | 17.5 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 38.5 | 6.0 | -12.0 |
| U.S. Bancorp USB | 92.6 | 12.8 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 37.8 | 0.4 | 26.3 |
| PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC | 92.4 | 13.6 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 36.7 | -7.0 | 17.6 |
| Itau Unibanco Banco Holding SA ITUB | 91.5 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 39.1 | 18.0 | 29.3 |
| Deutsche Bank AG DB | 73.5 | 10.3 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 33.4 | -8.3 | 11.7 |
| Nu Holdings Ltd NU | 67.3 | 21.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 48.2 | 43.0 | -13.1 |
| Median of companies shown | 92.4 | 13.6 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 38.2 | 6.0 | 11.7 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 151 | 39 | 33 | 1.31 | 0 | 335 | 4,006 |
| 2017 | 241 | 55 | 45 | 1.61 | 120 | 435 | 5,228 |
| 2018 | 303 | 57 | 52 | 1.67 | 138 | 744 | 5,835 |
| 2019 | 514 | 98 | 97 | 2.49 | 191 | 840 | 6,183 |
| 2020 | 477 | 115 | 105 | 2.94 | 467 | 847 | 6,092 |
| 2021 | 515 | 156 | 142 | 4.46 | 582 | 872 | 6,691 |
| 2022 | 523 | 180 | 151 | 5.17 | 269 | 645 | 6,747 |
| 2023 | 577 | 177 | 164 | 6.08 | 303 | 652 | 7,536 |
| 2024 | 669 | 219 | 183 | 7.27 | 454 | 840 | 7,549 |
| 2025 | 685 | 223 | 186 | 7.90 | 451 | 858 | 7,172 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q3 | 1.35 | -0.70 | 180 | -2.60 | 24.40 | 135 | 86 |
| 2024: Q4 | 1.26 | 18.90 | 183 | 6.30 | 16.40 | -72 | -127 |
| 2025: Q1 | 3.14 | 14.60 | 275 | 6.70 | 27.30 | 188 | 150 |
| 2025: Q2 | 1.81 | 9.00 | 196 | 3.80 | 21.50 | 30 | 2 |
| 2025: Q3 | 1.69 | 25.20 | 187 | 4.00 | 25.00 | 304 | 211 |
| 2025: Q4 | 1.57 | 24.60 | 175 | -4.20 | 20.10 | 108 | 59 |
| 2026: Q1 | 3.35 | 6.70 | 276 | 0.50 | 26.40 | 233 | 231 |
| 2026: Q2 | 1.37 | -24.30 | -175 | -189.60 | – | – | – |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 16 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Backtested Scanners
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
Research
Value & GARP
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/30/2026 | 7.88 | 7.80 – 7.99 | 818 | 7.4% | 3 |
| 09/30/2027 | 9.60 | 9.54 – 9.70 | 865 | 21.8% | 3 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
With these assumptions (discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%), no growth rate between -20.0% and 60.0% per year explains today’s market value — the reverse calculation yields no meaningful figure here.
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $594.3M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.75B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | – |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | – |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow shrank by 10.0% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Pathward Financial ist eine Bank bzw. ein Banking-as-a-Service-Dienstleister; KI ist keine Umsatzquelle. In den geprüften SEC-Berichten erscheint KI ausschließlich als allgemeine Technologie- und Risikofaktor-Sprache (Drittanbieter-KI-Modelle und generative KI in Item 1A „Risk Factors“) sowie als aspirativer Effizienz-Hinweis („create operational efficiencies, including through AI capabilities“) — kein belegter operativer KI-Einsatz und kein spezifisches, über Boilerplate hinausgehendes KI-Geschäftsrisiko. Daher neutral.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„The use of AI models developed by third parties introduces risks related to how those models are developed, trained, and deployed, including unauthorized material in training data and limited visibility into risk mitigation steps."
Der Einsatz von KI-Modellen, die von Dritten entwickelt wurden, bringt Risiken mit sich, wie diese Modelle entwickelt, trainiert und eingesetzt werden — einschließlich unbefugten Materials in den Trainingsdaten und begrenzter Einsicht in die Schritte zur Risikominderung.
10-K · 2025-11-25 · View SEC filing
„We are also exposed to the risk that generative AI models may produce incorrect outputs, release confidential information, reflect biases, infringe intellectual property, or otherwise cause harm."
Wir sind zudem dem Risiko ausgesetzt, dass generative KI-Modelle fehlerhafte Ergebnisse liefern, vertrauliche Informationen preisgeben, Verzerrungen widerspiegeln, geistiges Eigentum verletzen oder anderweitig Schaden anrichten.
10-K · 2025-11-25 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2025-11-25 · 10-Q 2026-05-07
Rated on July 23, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 9.4%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 20.6%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -7.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 37.0%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 90.0%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 4.2%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 1,051 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 675 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 17.5%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 1.4%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
10/10 Quality stockThe AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 18.3%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 12.3%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 21.4%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 10.2%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -4.7x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 1.6%
- Return on equity > 15% 33.9%
- ROCE > 15% 17.5%
- Expected return > 10% 25.1%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2026 | Mehta Neeraj | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Stork Kendall E | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Hoople Elizabeth G. | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Hajek Douglas J. | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Perretta Christopher | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Zlatkus Lizabeth H | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Mccray Ronald D | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Shulman Becky S | Director | Other | 400 | 0.00 | – |
The company
About the Company
Pathward Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. The company offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts. It also provides commercial finance product comprising term lending, asset-based lending, factoring, lease financing, insurance premium finance, government guaranteed lending, and other commercial finance products; installment and revolving consumer lending products; tax services, which includes short-term refund advance loans and short-term electronic return originator advance loans; and warehouse financing services. In addition, the company offers payment solutions, such as acceptance, processing, and settlement of credit card and debit card payments, financial processing services for freestanding ATMs; digital payments; and merchant services, as well as issues debit and prepaid cards. The company was formerly known as Meta Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Pathward Financial, Inc. in July 2022. Pathward Financial, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
- CEO Insider Trades (12 Mo.)
- selling own stock
- Employees
- 1,196
- Headquarters
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Address
- 5501 South Broadband Lane, 57108 Sioux Falls, United States
- Phone
- 877 497 7497
- Website
- pathwardfinancial.com
- IPO Date
- 09/21/1993
- ISIN
- US59100U1088
- Stock Split
- 3:1 on 10/05/2018
- Stock Split
- 3:2 on 01/03/1997
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Brett L. Pharr | CEO & Director | 1962 |
| Anthony M. Sharett J.D. | President | 1977 |
| Gregory A. Sigrist CPA | Executive VP & CFO | 1968 |
| Charles C. Ingram | Executive VP, Chief Information & Operations Officer | 1970 |
| Nadia A. Dombrowski J.D. | Executive VP and Chief Legal & Administrative Officer | 1962 |
| Jennifer W. Warren | Senior VP & Chief Accounting Officer | 1984 |
| Darby Schoenfeld CPA | Senior VP and Chief of Staff & Investor Relations | – |
| Catherine McGlown | Senior Vice President of Communications, Sustainability & Public Policy | – |
| Anajana Bernde SPHR | Executive VP and Chief People & Culture Officer | 1970 |
| Michael D. Lister | Head of Tax Services Division | 1954 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 09/17/2026 PATHWARD FINANCIAL, INC. (CASH): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers SEC ↗
- 08/20/2026 PATHWARD FINANCIAL, INC. (CASH): Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/22/2026 PATHWARD FINANCIAL, INC. (CASH): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.