Head to Head Comparison: WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) vs. First Republic Bank (OTCMKTS:FRCB)

First Republic Bank (OTCMKTS:FRCB) and WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of First Republic Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of WaFd shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of First Republic Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of WaFd shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Republic Bank and WaFd”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Republic Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	$3.11	0.00
WaFd	$1.41 billion	1.70	$226.07 million	$2.89	10.93

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

Risk & Volatility

First Republic Bank has a beta of 2.59, meaning that its stock price is 159% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WaFd has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for First Republic Bank and WaFd, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Republic Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
WaFd	0	5	0	0	2.00

WaFd has a consensus target price of $32.90, indicating a potential upside of 4.18%. Given WaFd’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WaFd is more favorable than First Republic Bank.

Profitability

This table compares First Republic Bank and WaFd’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Republic Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
WaFd	17.45%	8.67%	0.87%

Summary

WaFd beats First Republic Bank on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Republic Bank

As of May 1, 2023, First Republic Bank went out of business. Previously, First Republic Bank provided private banking, private business banking, and private wealth management services to clients in metropolitan areas in the United States. The company was founded in 1985 and was headquartered in San Francisco, California. First Republic Bank now trades on OTCPK.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts. It also provides single-family dwellings, construction, land acquisition and development, consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies; holds and markets real estate properties; and debit and credit cards, as well as acts as the trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. The company was formerly known as Washington Federal, Inc. and changed its name to WaFd, Inc in September 2023. WaFd, Inc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.