Critical Review: WVS Financial (NASDAQ:WVFC) & Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG)

WVS Financial (NASDAQ:WVFC) and Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

WVS Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Flagstar Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. WVS Financial pays out 40.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Flagstar Financial pays out -1.1% 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.

Risk and Volatility

WVS Financial has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flagstar Financial has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares WVS Financial and Flagstar Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WVS Financial	$16.11 million	1.50	$1.38 million	$0.98	13.06
Flagstar Financial	$6.35 billion	0.84	-$1.09 billion	($3.69)	-3.50

WVS Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Flagstar Financial. Flagstar Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WVS Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares WVS Financial and Flagstar Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WVS Financial	9.50%	12.31%	1.29%
Flagstar Financial	-17.16%	-10.72%	-0.76%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.3% of WVS Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.9% of Flagstar Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.5% of WVS Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of Flagstar Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for WVS Financial and Flagstar Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WVS Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Flagstar Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40

Flagstar Financial has a consensus target price of $12.90, suggesting a potential downside of 0.08%. Given Flagstar Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Flagstar Financial is more favorable than WVS Financial.

Summary

WVS Financial beats Flagstar Financial on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WVS Financial

WVS Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for West View Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including regular savings accounts, demand accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as individual retirement account certificates. It also offers single-family and multi-family residential real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, construction loans, consumer loans, land acquisition and development loans, and commercial loans. In addition, the company is involved in the investment activities. WVS Financial Corp. was founded in 1908 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Flagstar Financial

Flagstar Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Flagstar Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company’s deposit products include interest-bearing checking and money market, savings, non-interest-bearing, and retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise multi-family loans; commercial real estate loans; acquisition, development, and construction loans; commercial and industrial loans; one-to-four family loans; specialty finance loans and leases; warehouse loans; and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, boat and recreational vehicle indirect lending, point of sale consumer loans, and other consumer loans, including overdraft loans. The company offers cash management products; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and online banking, mobile banking, and bank-by-phone services. It primarily serves individuals, small and mid-size businesses, and professional associations. The company was formerly known as New York Community Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Flagstar Financial, Inc. in October 2024. Flagstar Financial, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Hicksville, New York.