Critical Contrast: First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) versus M&F Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MFBP)

M&F Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MFBP) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of M&F Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of First Hawaiian shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

M&F Bancorp has a beta of -0.12, suggesting that its stock price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares M&F Bancorp and First Hawaiian”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
M&F Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Hawaiian	$1.12 billion	2.97	$234.98 million	$1.75	14.91

First Hawaiian has higher revenue and earnings than M&F Bancorp.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for M&F Bancorp and First Hawaiian, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
M&F Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Hawaiian	3	4	0	0	1.57

First Hawaiian has a consensus price target of $26.86, suggesting a potential upside of 2.94%. Given First Hawaiian’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than M&F Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares M&F Bancorp and First Hawaiian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
M&F Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Hawaiian	18.83%	8.83%	0.93%

Dividends

M&F Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Hawaiian pays out 59.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

First Hawaiian beats M&F Bancorp on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About M&F Bancorp

M&F Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Mechanics and Farmers Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in North Carolina. It offers deposit products, including demand deposits; checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company provides loans for commercial and residential real estate, and construction; and consumer and other loans; as well as ATM services. M&F Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and construction lending, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers wealth management, personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, investment management, retirement planning, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.