Head-To-Head Analysis: Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) & Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS)

Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS) and Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pioneer Bancorp and Community West Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pioneer Bancorp	$104.65 million	4.27	$13.41 million	$0.54	33.28
Community West Bancshares	$196.20 million	3.63	$38.17 million	$1.85	14.17

Community West Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Pioneer Bancorp. Community West Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pioneer Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Pioneer Bancorp and Community West Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pioneer Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Community West Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60

Community West Bancshares has a consensus price target of $28.17, suggesting a potential upside of 7.42%. Given Community West Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Community West Bancshares is more favorable than Pioneer Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Pioneer Bancorp and Community West Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pioneer Bancorp	N/A	4.05%	0.58%
Community West Bancshares	16.86%	10.12%	1.16%

Risk and Volatility

Pioneer Bancorp has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community West Bancshares has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.8% of Community West Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Pioneer Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of Community West Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Community West Bancshares beats Pioneer Bancorp on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pioneer Bancorp

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Pioneer Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services in New York. The company accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. Its loan products include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, commercial construction, residential mortgage lending, consumer loans, and home equity lines of credit. The company also invests in the U.S. governmental securities, fixed rate collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage-backed securities, fixed-rate investment grade bonds, and equity securities. In addition, the company offers personal and commercial insurance products, including homeowners, automobile, and comprehensive business insurance; employee benefit products and services, such as group health, dental, disability, and life insurance products, as well as defined contribution, defined benefit administration, and human resource management services; and wealth management services comprising investment advice, retirement income planning, estate planning, business succession, and employer retirement planning. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Albany, New York. Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC.

About Community West Bancshares

Community West Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for Community West Bank, N.A. that provides various financial products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and fixed rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposits; and cash management products. It also provides commercial, commercial real estate, consumer, manufactured housing, and small business administration loans, as well as agricultural loans for real estate and operating lines; home equity lines of credit collateralized by residential real estate; single family real estate loans; and installment loans consisting of automobile and general-purpose loans. The company serves small to medium-sized businesses and their owners, professionals, high-net worth individuals, and non-profit organizations. Community West Bancshares was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Goleta, California.