Contrasting Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) and Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN)

Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) and Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.0% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.4% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 59.2% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Eagle Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greene County Bancorp has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Bancorp and Greene County Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp	-6.43%	-3.37%	-0.37%
Greene County Bancorp	28.14%	15.90%	1.31%

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Greene County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Eagle Bancorp pays out -3.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Greene County Bancorp pays out 18.3% 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. Greene County Bancorp has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Greene County Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Eagle Bancorp and Greene County Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp	1	2	0	1	2.25
Greene County Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Eagle Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.11%. Given Eagle Bancorp’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Eagle Bancorp is more favorable than Greene County Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Eagle Bancorp and Greene County Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp	$634.26 million	1.31	-$138.05 million	($1.26)	-21.69
Greene County Bancorp	$145.79 million	4.10	$41.02 million	$2.41	14.55

Greene County Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Eagle Bancorp. Eagle Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Greene County Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Greene County Bancorp beats Eagle Bancorp on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for EagleBank that provides commercial and consumer banking services primarily in the United States. The company also offers various commercial and consumer lending products comprising commercial loans for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate lines of credit, and government contract financing; asset based lending and accounts receivable financing; construction and commercial real estate loans; business equipment financing; consumer home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, and term loans; consumer installment loans, such as auto and personal loans; personal credit cards; and residential mortgage loans. In addition, it provides online and mobile banking services; checking and saving accounts; and other deposit services, including cash management services, business sweep accounts, lock boxes, remote deposit captures, account reconciliation services, merchant card services, safety deposit boxes, and automated clearing house origination, as well as after-hours depositories and ATM services. Further, the company offers insurance products and services through a referral program; and treasury management services. The company serves sole proprietors, small and medium-sized businesses, partnerships, corporations, and non-profit organizations and associations, as well as investors. Eagle Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

About Greene County Bancorp

Greene County Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for The Bank of Greene County that provides various financial services in the United States. The company's deposit products include savings, NOW accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, non-interest bearing checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio consists of residential, construction and land, and multifamily loans; commercial real estate mortgage loans; consumer loans, such as loans on new and used automobiles, personal loans, and home equity loans, as well as other consumer installment loans, including passbook loans, unsecured home improvement loans, recreational vehicle loans, and deposit account overdrafts; and commercial loans. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Catskill, New York. Greene County Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of Greene County Bancorp, MHC.