Head-To-Head Survey: Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) versus NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK)

NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK) and Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for NB Bancorp and Northeast Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NB Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50
Northeast Bancorp	0	1	2	0	2.67

NB Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $25.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.73%. Northeast Bancorp has a consensus price target of $143.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.46%. Given Northeast Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northeast Bancorp is more favorable than NB Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares NB Bancorp and Northeast Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NB Bancorp	14.86%	9.75%	1.14%
Northeast Bancorp	27.91%	19.35%	2.22%

Dividends

NB Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Northeast Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. NB Bancorp pays out 16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northeast Bancorp pays out 0.3% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NB Bancorp and Northeast Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NB Bancorp	$351.74 million	2.87	$50.30 million	$1.66	13.87
Northeast Bancorp	$385.07 million	2.74	$107.48 million	$12.72	10.12

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

Summary

Northeast Bancorp beats NB Bancorp on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NB Bancorp

NB Bancorp, Inc. focuses on operating as a bank holding company for Needham Bank that provides various banking products and services in Greater Boston metropolitan area and surrounding communities in Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut, southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The company offers various deposits, including certificate of deposit, individual retirement, money market, savings, NOW, demand deposit, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts; and commercial real estate and multifamily, one- to four-family residential real estate, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. It also invests in securities consisting of U.S. treasury and federal agency securities, government-sponsored residential mortgage-backed securities, municipal bonds, and corporate bonds. The company was founded in 1892 and is based in Needham, Massachusetts.

About Northeast Bancorp

Northeast Bank provides banking services to individual and corporate customers in Maine. The company's deposit products include demand deposit, NOW, money market, savings, certificate of deposit, and individual retirement accounts, as well as checking accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises residential mortgage loans; multi-family and other commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans, such as term loans, lines of credit and equipment, and receivables financing; consumer loans comprising mobile home and overdraft, and deposit-secured loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers telephone banking, online banking and bill payment, mobile banking, cash management, and remote deposit capture services, as well as debit and credit card, ATM, electronic transfer, and check services. Further, it provides various services, such as money market, merchant, and payroll and HR. Northeast Bank was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine.