Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) & Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) Financial Comparison

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) and Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Merchants Bancorp and Bridgewater Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merchants Bancorp	17.73%	15.37%	1.30%
Bridgewater Bancshares	14.52%	10.27%	0.80%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.6% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.8% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.3% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Merchants Bancorp and Bridgewater Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merchants Bancorp	1	2	2	0	2.20
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	2	2	0	2.50

Merchants Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $40.25, suggesting a potential upside of 25.90%. Bridgewater Bancshares has a consensus target price of $20.50, suggesting a potential upside of 22.32%. Given Merchants Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Merchants Bancorp is more favorable than Bridgewater Bancshares.

Volatility and Risk

Merchants Bancorp has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Merchants Bancorp and Bridgewater Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merchants Bancorp	$686.02 million	2.14	$320.39 million	$4.35	7.35
Bridgewater Bancshares	$253.27 million	1.83	$32.83 million	$1.33	12.60

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

Summary

Merchants Bancorp beats Bridgewater Bancshares on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Merchants Bancorp

Merchants Bancorp operates as the diversified bank holding company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Multi-family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing, and Banking. The Multi-family Mortgage Banking segment engages in the mortgage banking, which originates and services government sponsored mortgages, including bridge financing products to refinance, acquire, or reposition multi-family housing projects, and construction lending for multi-family and healthcare facilities. This segment also offers customized loan products for need-based skilled nursing facilities, such as independent living, assisted living, and memory care; and tax credit equity syndicator service. The Mortgage Warehousing segment funds agency eligible residential loans, as well as commercial loans to non-depository financial institutions. The Banking segment offers a range of financial products and services to consumers and businesses, which includes retail banking, commercial lending, agricultural lending, retail and correspondent residential mortgage banking, and small business administration lending. Merchants Bancorp was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

About Bridgewater Bancshares

Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bridgewater Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial real estate investors, entrepreneurs, business clients, and individuals in the United States. The company provides savings and money market accounts, demand deposits, time and brokered deposits, and interest and noninterest bearing transaction, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers commercial loans to sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other business enterprises to finance working capital, capital investment, or for other business related purposes; paycheck protection program loans; construction and land development loans; 1-4 family mortgage loans; multifamily lending products; owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company online, mobile, and direct banking services. Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.