Contrasting Wayne Savings Bancshares (OTCMKTS:WAYN) & Ponce Financial Group (NASDAQ:PDLB)

Wayne Savings Bancshares (OTCMKTS:WAYN) and Ponce Financial Group (NASDAQ:PDLB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Wayne Savings Bancshares and Ponce Financial Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wayne Savings Bancshares	$28.55 million	1.74	$9.00 million	$3.71	6.10
Ponce Financial Group	$89.17 million	2.36	-$30.00 million	($0.27)	-32.92

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.1% of Wayne Savings Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.6% of Ponce Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Wayne Savings Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ponce Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Wayne Savings Bancshares and Ponce Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wayne Savings Bancshares	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ponce Financial Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Ponce Financial Group has a consensus price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.24%. Given Ponce Financial Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ponce Financial Group is more favorable than Wayne Savings Bancshares.

Volatility & Risk

Wayne Savings Bancshares has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ponce Financial Group has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Wayne Savings Bancshares and Ponce Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wayne Savings Bancshares	22.98%	18.70%	1.17%
Ponce Financial Group	-5.09%	-2.40%	-0.25%

About Wayne Savings Bancshares

Wayne Savings Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Wayne Savings Community Bank that provides personal and business banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and term certificate accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides residential mortgage, commercial, installment, residential and nonresidential real estate, commercial real estate, residential construction, multi-family real estate, land, commercial business, consumer, home, home equity, auto, recreational vehicle, personal, furniture and appliance, agriculture, and term loans, as well as lines of credit, government guaranteed programs, and standby letters of credit. In addition, the company offers retirement planning, investment advisory, insurance, and wealth management and trust services. Further, it provides overdraft protection, re-order check, remote deposit capture, merchant, sweep, online and mobile banking, and bill pay services, as well as debit, credit, and gift cards. Wayne Savings Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1899 and is based in Wooster, Ohio.

About Ponce Financial Group

Ponce Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Ponce Bank that provides various banking products and services. It accepts various deposit products, including demand accounts, NOW/IOLA accounts, money market accounts, reciprocal deposits, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides mortgage loans, which includes one-to-four family investor-owned and owner-occupied residential, multifamily residential, nonresidential property, construction and land, commercial and industrial, business, and consumer loans; lines of credit; and paycheck protection program. In addition, it invests in securities, which consist of U.S. Government and federal agency securities and securities issued by government-sponsored or government-owned enterprises, as well as mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds and obligations, and Federal Home Loan Bank stock. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Bronx, New York.