Analyzing First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) and Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB)

Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Northeast Community Bancorp and First Hawaiian, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northeast Community Bancorp	0	1	1	2	3.25
First Hawaiian	2	7	2	0	2.00

Northeast Community Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $29.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.50%. First Hawaiian has a consensus target price of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.98%. Given First Hawaiian’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than Northeast Community Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Northeast Community Bancorp and First Hawaiian”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northeast Community Bancorp	$158.21 million	2.50	$44.41 million	$3.12	9.22
First Hawaiian	$1.17 billion	2.72	$276.27 million	$2.30	11.36

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.2% of Northeast Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Northeast Community Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of First Hawaiian shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Northeast Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Northeast Community Bancorp pays out 32.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 45.2% 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. Northeast Community Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Northeast Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northeast Community Bancorp	27.67%	12.00%	2.05%
First Hawaiian	24.41%	10.27%	1.19%

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.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and construction lending, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers wealth management, personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, investment management, retirement planning, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.