Reviewing Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) and Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN)

Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) and Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Northeast Bancorp and Greene County Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northeast Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
Greene County Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Northeast Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $102.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.47%. Given Northeast Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Northeast Bancorp is more favorable than Greene County Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northeast Bancorp	24.16%	17.73%	2.06%
Greene County Bancorp	26.03%	15.01%	1.19%

Dividends

Northeast Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Greene County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northeast Bancorp pays out 0.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Greene County Bancorp pays out 18.7% 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. Greene County Bancorp has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Greene County Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

13.4% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 14.2% of Northeast Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 59.2% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Northeast Bancorp and Greene County Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northeast Bancorp	$351.00 million	2.61	$83.44 million	$10.37	10.75
Greene County Bancorp	$132.94 million	N/A	$31.14 million	$2.14	10.52

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

Risk & Volatility

Northeast Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greene County Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Northeast Bancorp beats Greene County Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Greene County Bancorp

Greene County Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for The Bank of Greene County that provides various financial services in the United States. The company's deposit products include savings, NOW accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, non-interest bearing checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio consists of residential, construction and land, and multifamily loans; commercial real estate mortgage loans; consumer loans, such as loans on new and used automobiles, personal loans, and home equity loans, as well as other consumer installment loans, including passbook loans, unsecured home improvement loans, recreational vehicle loans, and deposit account overdrafts; and commercial loans. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Catskill, New York. Greene County Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of Greene County Bancorp, MHC.