Comparing Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) & Riverview Bancorp (NASDAQ:RVSB)

Riverview Bancorp (NASDAQ:RVSB) and Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Riverview Bancorp has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northeast Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Riverview Bancorp and Northeast Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Riverview Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
Northeast Bancorp	0	1	2	0	2.67

Riverview Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.74%. Northeast Bancorp has a consensus target price of $117.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.90%. Given Riverview Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Riverview Bancorp is more favorable than Northeast Bancorp.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Riverview Bancorp and Northeast Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Riverview Bancorp	$73.22 million	1.55	$4.90 million	$0.23	23.83
Northeast Bancorp	$351.00 million	2.80	$83.44 million	$10.37	11.55

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Riverview Bancorp	6.41%	2.99%	0.32%
Northeast Bancorp	24.16%	17.34%	1.98%

Dividends

Riverview Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Northeast Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Riverview Bancorp pays out 34.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northeast Bancorp pays out 0.4% 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

69.6% of Riverview Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Riverview Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.2% of Northeast Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Northeast Bancorp beats Riverview Bancorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Riverview Bancorp

Riverview Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Riverview Bank that provides commercial banking services to small and medium size businesses, professionals, and wealth building individuals. It offers a range of deposit products, including demand deposits, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement savings plans. The company also provides commercial business, commercial and residential real estate, multi-family real estate, land, real estate construction, and one-to-four family mortgage loans; other consumer loans, such as automobile, boat, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, savings account, and unsecured loans; and home equity lines of credit. In addition, it is involved in the provision of mortgage brokerage and mortgage loan servicing activities, as well as offers asset management services comprising trust, estate planning, and investment management. The company operates in Camas, Washougal, Stevenson, White Salmon, Battle Ground, Goldendale, Ridgefield, and Vancouver, Washington, as well as Portland, Gresham, Tualatin, and Aumsville, Oregon. Riverview Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is based in Vancouver, Washington.

About Northeast Bancorp

Northeast Bank provides banking services to individual and corporate customers in Maine. The company's deposit products include demand deposit, NOW, money market, savings, certificate of deposit, and individual retirement accounts, as well as checking accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises residential mortgage loans; multi-family and other commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans, such as term loans, lines of credit and equipment, and receivables financing; consumer loans comprising mobile home and overdraft, and deposit-secured loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers telephone banking, online banking and bill payment, mobile banking, cash management, and remote deposit capture services, as well as debit and credit card, ATM, electronic transfer, and check services. Further, it provides various services, such as money market, merchant, and payroll and HR. Northeast Bank was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine.