Contrasting Coastal Financial (NASDAQ:CCB) and First Northern Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNRN)

First Northern Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNRN) and Coastal Financial (NASDAQ:CCB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares First Northern Community Bancorp and Coastal Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Northern Community Bancorp	23.90%	10.57%	1.12%
Coastal Financial	7.11%	10.01%	1.04%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for First Northern Community Bancorp and Coastal Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Northern Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Coastal Financial	0	2	2	2	3.00

Coastal Financial has a consensus price target of $133.60, indicating a potential upside of 59.26%. Given Coastal Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Coastal Financial is more favorable than First Northern Community Bancorp.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Northern Community Bancorp and Coastal Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Northern Community Bancorp	$88.40 million	2.79	$21.13 million	$1.26	12.50
Coastal Financial	$661.22 million	1.93	$46.99 million	$3.04	27.60

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.9% of First Northern Community Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.2% of Coastal Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of First Northern Community Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of Coastal Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Coastal Financial beats First Northern Community Bancorp on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Northern Community Bancorp

First Northern Community Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Northern Bank of Dixon that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals, and small and medium sized businesses. The company accepts demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction deposits, savings and money market deposit accounts, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, commercial real estate, agriculture, residential mortgage, residential construction, and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides debit and credit cards; investment and brokerage services; alternative investment products, and fiduciary and other financial services; and equipment leasing, merchant card processing, payroll, and international banking services through third parties. Further, it offers cashier's checks, safe deposit boxes, and other customary banking services. The company operates branches located in the cities of Auburn, Colusa, Davis, Dixon, Fairfield, Orland, Rancho Cordova, Roseville, Sacramento, Vacaville, West Sacramento, Winters, Willows, and Woodland; satellite banking office inside a retirement community in the city of Davis; residential mortgage loan office in Davis; and commercial loan office in the Contra Costa County city of Walnut Creek. First Northern Community Bancorp was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Dixon, California.

About Coastal Financial

Coastal Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Coastal Community Bank that provides various banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals in the Puget Sound region in Washington. It accepts a range of deposit products, including demand and savings accounts, time deposits, and money market accounts. The company also offers commercial and industrial loans, such as term loans, commercial lines of credit, capital call lines working capital loans, equipment financing, borrowing base loans, small business administration loans, and other loan products; owner and non-owner-occupied real estate loans, and multi-family residential loans; construction, land, and land development loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer and other loans, including automobile, boat and recreational vehicle, and secured term loans, as well as personal lines of credit, including overdraft protection. In addition, it provides remote deposit capture, online and mobile banking, and direct and reciprocal deposit services; and debit cards. Further, the company offers business accounts and cash management services, including business checking and savings accounts, and treasury services, as well as Banking as a Service (BaaS), a platform that allows broker dealers and digital financial service providers to offer their customers banking services. Coastal Financial Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Everett, Washington.