Contrasting Oak Ridge Financial Services (OTCMKTS:BKOR) and Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Oak Ridge Financial Services (OTCMKTS:BKOR) and Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

4.2% of Oak Ridge Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.3% of Dime Community Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.6% of Oak Ridge Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Dime Community Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Oak Ridge Financial Services has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dime Community Bancshares has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Oak Ridge Financial Services and Dime Community Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oak Ridge Financial Services	15.83%	N/A	N/A
Dime Community Bancshares	6.74%	6.90%	0.62%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Oak Ridge Financial Services and Dime Community Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oak Ridge Financial Services	$41.04 million	1.82	$5.67 million	$2.48	10.97
Dime Community Bancshares	$646.19 million	1.97	$29.08 million	$0.84	34.52

Dime Community Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Oak Ridge Financial Services. Oak Ridge Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dime Community Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Oak Ridge Financial Services and Dime Community Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oak Ridge Financial Services	0	0	0	0	0.00
Dime Community Bancshares	0	1	3	0	2.75

Dime Community Bancshares has a consensus price target of $37.17, indicating a potential upside of 28.16%. Given Dime Community Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Dime Community Bancshares is more favorable than Oak Ridge Financial Services.

Dividends

Oak Ridge Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Dime Community Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Oak Ridge Financial Services pays out 22.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Dime Community Bancshares pays out 119.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Dime Community Bancshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Dime Community Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Dime Community Bancshares beats Oak Ridge Financial Services on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oak Ridge Financial Services

Oak Ridge Financial Services, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Bank of Oak Ridge that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; overdrafts; auto, home equity, mortgage, business term, and business SBA loans; business lines of credit; credit cards; and online and mobile banking products and services. The company also provides health savings accounts, identity theft protection, wealth management, cash management, and remote deposit capture services; and auto, home, small business, renters, life, boat and watercraft, classic car, motorcycle, flood, pet, and umbrella insurance products. It operates through a network of branches in Oak Ridge, Greensboro, and Summerfield, North Carolina. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Oak Ridge, North Carolina.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that engages in the provision of various commercial banking and financial services. The company accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. It also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; letters of credit; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; lines of credit; home equity loans; and construction and land loans. In addition, the company invests in Federal Home Loan Bank, Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, and other asset backed securities; U.S. Treasury securities; New York state and local municipal obligations; U.S. government-sponsored enterprise securities; and corporate bonds. Further, it offers certificate of deposit account registry services and insured cash sweep programs; federal deposit insurance corporation insurance; merchant credit and debit card processing, automated teller machines, cash management services, lockbox processing, online banking services, remote deposit capture, safe deposit boxes, and individual retirement accounts; investment products and services through a third-party broker dealer; and title insurance broker services for small and medium sized businesses, and municipal and consumer relationships. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.