Reviewing WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) and First National Bank Alaska (OTCMKTS:FBAK)

First National Bank Alaska (OTCMKTS:FBAK) and WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for First National Bank Alaska and WaFd, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First National Bank Alaska	0	0	0	0	0.00
WaFd	0	5	0	0	2.00

WaFd has a consensus price target of $32.90, indicating a potential downside of 0.12%. Given WaFd’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WaFd is more favorable than First National Bank Alaska.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First National Bank Alaska and WaFd”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First National Bank Alaska	$87.73 million	N/A	$67.05 million	$24.44	12.58
WaFd	$1.41 billion	1.78	$226.07 million	$2.89	11.40

WaFd has higher revenue and earnings than First National Bank Alaska. WaFd is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First National Bank Alaska, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

First National Bank Alaska pays an annual dividend of $16.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First National Bank Alaska pays out 65.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WaFd pays out 37.4% 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. WaFd has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

First National Bank Alaska has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WaFd has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First National Bank Alaska and WaFd’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First National Bank Alaska	29.11%	14.98%	1.55%
WaFd	17.45%	8.67%	0.87%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.7% of WaFd shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of WaFd shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

WaFd beats First National Bank Alaska on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First National Bank Alaska

First National Bank Alaska, a commercial bank, provides various banking products and services for business, industry, and individual customers primarily in Alaska. The company offers savings and checking accounts; money market deposits; safe deposit services; certificates of deposit; individual retirement accounts; and personal, home equity, and construction loans, as well as loans for stability and growth. It also provides investment, treasury, trust, and wealth management services; and escrow and contract collection, and bankcard services. In addition, the company offers debit and credit cards, online and mobile banking, fraud prevention, and convenience banking services. First National Bank Alaska was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts. It also provides single-family dwellings, construction, land acquisition and development, consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies; holds and markets real estate properties; and debit and credit cards, as well as acts as the trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. The company was formerly known as Washington Federal, Inc. and changed its name to WaFd, Inc in September 2023. WaFd, Inc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.