Critical Review: Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) versus SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SR Bancorp	-28.30%	-5.52%	-1.01%
Northeast Community Bancorp	31.34%	16.87%	2.64%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SR Bancorp and Northeast Community Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SR Bancorp	$38.38 million	2.76	-$10.86 million	N/A	N/A
Northeast Community Bancorp	$103.95 million	3.35	$46.28 million	$3.23	7.67

Northeast Community Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than SR Bancorp.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for SR Bancorp and Northeast Community Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SR Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Northeast Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

24.7% of SR Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.3% of Northeast Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Northeast Community Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Northeast Community Bancorp beats SR Bancorp on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SR Bancorp

SR Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Somerset Regal Bank that provides customary retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and local municipalities in the communities of Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Essex counties in New Jersey. It offers deposit instruments, including noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loans comprising one- to four family-residential mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans, and rehabilitation loans; and bill payment services. In addition, it is involved in the investment activities. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Bound Brook, New Jersey.

About Northeast Community Bancorp

Northeast Community Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for NorthEast Community Bank that provides financial services for individuals and businesses. It accepts various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market accounts, regular savings accounts, and non-interest bearing demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also offers construction, commercial and industrial, multifamily and mixed-use real estate, non-residential real estate loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it invests in various types of liquid assets, including U.S. Treasury obligations, municipal securities, deposits at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, and certificates of deposit of federally insured institutions, as well as securities of various federal agencies, and of state and municipal governments. Further, the company offers financial planning and investment advisory services; and life insurance products and fixed-rate annuities. It operates full-service branches located in Bronx, New York, Orange, Rockland, and Sullivan Counties in New York and Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk Counties in Massachusetts; and loan production offices located in White Plains, New York, and New City counties in New York and Danvers, Massachusetts. Northeast Community Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.