First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) versus Sberbank of Russia (OTCMKTS:SBRCY) Critical Survey

Sberbank of Russia (OTCMKTS:SBRCY) and First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Sberbank of Russia and First Financial Northwest’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sberbank of Russia	40.80%	21.45%	2.97%
First Financial Northwest	1.34%	0.67%	0.07%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Sberbank of Russia and First Financial Northwest, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sberbank of Russia	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Financial Northwest	0	2	0	0	2.00

First Financial Northwest has a consensus price target of $22.75, suggesting a potential upside of 0.84%. Given First Financial Northwest’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Northwest is more favorable than Sberbank of Russia.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.1% of Sberbank of Russia shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of First Financial Northwest shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of First Financial Northwest shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Sberbank of Russia pays an annual dividend of $0.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 163.5%. First Financial Northwest pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. First Financial Northwest pays out 118.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sberbank of Russia and First Financial Northwest”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sberbank of Russia	$49.52 billion	0.06	$16.97 billion	N/A	N/A
First Financial Northwest	$37.56 million	5.54	$1.07 million	$0.11	205.09

Sberbank of Russia has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Northwest.

Volatility and Risk

Sberbank of Russia has a beta of 1.56, indicating that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Northwest has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sberbank of Russia beats First Financial Northwest on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sberbank of Russia

Sberbank of Russia, together with its subsidiaries, provides corporate and retail banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, corporate clients, and financial institutions. The company offers deposit products; pension accounts; payment, transfer, brokerage, and asset management services; car, housing, education, and consumer loans; mortgages; debit and credit cards, and overdraft service; and refinancing products. It also provides derivative, financial instrument, foreign currency, precious metal, corporate structured, and commodities and securities products, as well as debt and capital markets funding, documentary, and other commission services. In addition, it offers life, property, bank card, accident, liability, trust management, investment and universal life, travel, and mutual investment funds insurance products, as well as individual pension plans and corporate pension programs. Additionally, the company provides business bank accounts, platform for exporters and importers, merchant acquiring and international trading services, and corporate cards for small businesses; and loans, investment products and capital markets services, fund investment services, and banking services for corporate clients. It also provides trade finance, interbank lending, currency risk hedging, and treasury services; deposits, custody services, and electronic trading systems; and settlement and cash collection services to financial institutions. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 11 Regional banks and 14,162 branches in Russia. The company also has operations in 18 countries internationally. Sberbank of Russia was founded in 1841 and is headquartered in Moscow, Russia.

About First Financial Northwest

First Financial Northwest, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Northwest Bank that provides commercial banking services in Washington. The company offers a range of deposit products, including noninterest-bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise one-to-four family residential loans; multifamily and commercial real estate loans; construction/land loans; business loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, lines of credit, second mortgage term loans, auto loans, and savings account loans. The company also provides wealth management services; and online banking services, as well as debit cards and ATMs. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Renton, Washington.