Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) and Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) Critical Survey

Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) and Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.2% of Equitable Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.9% of Brookline Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.3% of Equitable Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Brookline Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Equitable Financial has a beta of 0.14, suggesting that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brookline Bancorp has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Equitable Financial and Brookline Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equitable Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Brookline Bancorp	0	1	0	1	3.00

Brookline Bancorp has a consensus target price of $15.25, indicating a potential upside of 54.20%. Given Brookline Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Brookline Bancorp is more favorable than Equitable Financial.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equitable Financial and Brookline Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equitable Financial	$31.33 million	1.01	$2.71 million	N/A	N/A
Brookline Bancorp	$355.56 million	2.50	$68.71 million	$0.77	12.84

Brookline Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Equitable Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Equitable Financial and Brookline Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equitable Financial	8.66%	5.81%	0.54%
Brookline Bancorp	10.51%	5.94%	0.62%

Summary

Brookline Bancorp beats Equitable Financial on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equitable Financial

Equitable Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Equitable Bank that provides various banking products and services in Nebraska, the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts; recorder checks; online and mobile banking; remote deposit capture; voice banking; credit card processing; debit and gift cards; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides home, home equity, auto, personal, real estate and construction, operating lines of credit, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as equipment financing. In addition, the company offers foreign currency and exchanges; financial planning; wealth management; investment advisory; and retirement services. It operates through branches located in Grand Island, North Platte, and Omaha. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska.

About Brookline Bancorp

Brookline Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Brookline Bank that provide commercial, business, and retail banking services to corporate, municipal, and retail customers in the United States. Its deposit products include demand checking, NOW, money market, and savings accounts. The company’s loan portfolio primarily comprises first mortgage loans secured by commercial, multi-family, and residential real estate properties; loans to business entities comprising commercial lines of credit; loans to condominium associations; loans and leases used to finance equipment for small businesses; financing for construction and development projects; and home equity and other consumer loans. It provides credit, term loans, letters of credit, foreign exchange, cash management, consumer and residential loans, wealth and investment advisory, and online and mobile banking services, as well as invests in debt and equity securities. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.