Analyzing Axos Financial (NASDAQ:AX) & Finward Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNWD)

Axos Financial (NASDAQ:AX – Get Rating) and Finward Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FNWD – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.0% of Axos Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.0% of Finward Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of Axos Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of Finward Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Axos Financial has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Finward Bancorp has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Axos Financial and Finward Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Axos Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A
Finward Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

Finward Bancorp has a consensus price target of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.46%. Given Finward Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Finward Bancorp is more favorable than Axos Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Axos Financial and Finward Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Axos Financial	25.02%	17.46%	1.64%
Finward Bancorp	17.40%	11.64%	0.74%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Axos Financial and Finward Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Axos Financial	$773.09 million	3.02	$240.72 million	$4.60	8.58
Finward Bancorp	$83.54 million	1.34	$15.08 million	$3.54	7.34

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

Summary

Axos Financial beats Finward Bancorp on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Axos Financial

(Get Rating)

Axos Financial, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and financing services. It operates through the following segments: Banking Business and Securities Business. The Banking Business segment includes online banking, concierge banking, prepaid card services, and mortgage, vehicle, and unsecured lending through online and telephonic distribution channels. The Securities Business segment is involved in the clearing broker-dealer, registered investment advisor, and introducing broker-dealer lines of businesses. The company was founded on July 6, 1999 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV.

About Finward Bancorp

(Get Rating)

Finward Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It offers checking and savings accounts, loans, eBanking, cash management, investments, retirement plans, and trust funds. The company was founded on January 31, 1994 and is headquartered in Munster, IN.