Analyzing Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) and Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB)

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) and Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank OZK	25.83%	13.24%	1.84%
Northeast Community Bancorp	28.09%	14.04%	2.30%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Bank OZK and Northeast Community Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank OZK	0	5	5	0	2.50
Northeast Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bank OZK presently has a consensus target price of $56.80, indicating a potential upside of 9.21%. Given Bank OZK’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Bank OZK is more favorable than Northeast Community Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.2% of Bank OZK shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.3% of Northeast Community Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of Bank OZK shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Northeast Community Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bank OZK and Northeast Community Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank OZK	$2.77 billion	2.13	$716.46 million	$6.16	8.44
Northeast Community Bancorp	$162.80 million	1.80	$47.07 million	$3.35	6.23

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

Dividends

Bank OZK pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Northeast Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Bank OZK pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northeast Community Bancorp pays out 23.9% 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. Bank OZK has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years and Northeast Community Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Northeast Community Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Bank OZK has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northeast Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bank OZK beats Northeast Community Bancorp on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits. It also provides trust and wealth services, such as personal trusts, custodial accounts, investment management accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as corporate trust services, including trustee, paying agent and registered transfer agent services, and other related services. In addition, the company offers treasury management services comprising automated clearing house, wire transfer, transaction reporting, wholesale lockbox, remote deposit capture, automated credit line transfer, reconciliation, positive pay, commercial card, and other services, as well as zero balance and investment sweep accounts. Further, it provides real estate, consumer, small business, indirect recreational vehicle and marine, equipment, agricultural, commercial and industrial, government guaranteed, lines of credit, homebuilder, and affordable housing loans; lender and structured, business aviation, and subscription financing services; and mortgage and other lending products. Additionally, the company offers ATMs; telephone, online, and mobile banking services; credit and debit cards; safe deposit boxes; and other products and services. The company was formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks and changed its name to Bank OZK in July 2018. Bank OZK was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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.