Head-To-Head Contrast: Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) & TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST)

Northeast Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBN) and TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Northeast Bancorp has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Northeast Bancorp and TrustCo Bank Corp NY, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northeast Bancorp	0	1	2	0	2.67
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	1	0	3.00

Northeast Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $143.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.08%. Given Northeast Bancorp’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Northeast Bancorp is more favorable than TrustCo Bank Corp NY.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.2% of Northeast Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Northeast Bancorp and TrustCo Bank Corp NY’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northeast Bancorp	27.91%	19.35%	2.22%
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	22.76%	9.62%	1.01%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Northeast Bancorp and TrustCo Bank Corp NY”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northeast Bancorp	$385.07 million	2.66	$107.48 million	$12.72	9.80
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$278.36 million	3.35	$61.14 million	$3.60	15.21

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

Dividends

Northeast Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Northeast Bancorp pays out 0.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 44.4% 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.

Summary

Northeast Bancorp beats TrustCo Bank Corp NY on 10 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 TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY operates as the holding company for Trustco Bank, a federal savings bank that provides personal and business banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts deposits; and offers loans and investments. It also operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, holds, and manages real estate mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company serves as the executor of estates and trustee of personal trusts; provides asset and wealth management, estate planning and related advice, and custodial services; and acts as trustee for various types of employee benefit plans, and corporate pension and profit-sharing trusts. It operates through banking offices in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester counties of New York; Brevard, Charlotte, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida; Bennington County in Vermont; Berkshire County in Massachusetts; and Bergen County in New Jersey, as well as automatic teller machines. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glenville, New York.