Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) & NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK) Critical Analysis

NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK) and Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NB Bancorp and Popular”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NB Bancorp	$351.74 million	2.77	$50.30 million	$1.51	14.75
Popular	$4.44 billion	2.23	$833.16 million	$14.80	10.51

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

Dividends

NB Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Popular pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. NB Bancorp pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Popular pays out 24.3% 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. Popular has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Popular is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for NB Bancorp and Popular, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NB Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50
Popular	0	0	11	2	3.15

NB Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $25.50, indicating a potential upside of 14.50%. Popular has a consensus price target of $187.42, indicating a potential upside of 20.51%. Given Popular’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Popular is more favorable than NB Bancorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.3% of Popular shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of NB Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Popular shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares NB Bancorp and Popular’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NB Bancorp	14.27%	9.13%	1.10%
Popular	21.37%	15.34%	1.26%

Summary

Popular beats NB Bancorp on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NB Bancorp

NB Bancorp, Inc. focuses on operating as a bank holding company for Needham Bank that provides various banking products and services in Greater Boston metropolitan area and surrounding communities in Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut, southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The company offers various deposits, including certificate of deposit, individual retirement, money market, savings, NOW, demand deposit, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts; and commercial real estate and multifamily, one- to four-family residential real estate, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. It also invests in securities consisting of U.S. treasury and federal agency securities, government-sponsored residential mortgage-backed securities, municipal bonds, and corporate bonds. The company was founded in 1892 and is based in Needham, Massachusetts.

About Popular

Popular, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial multi-family, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage loans; consumer loans, including personal loans, credit cards, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, and other loans to individual borrowers; construction loans; and lease financing comprising automobile loans/leases. In addition, the company provides investment banking, auto and equipment leasing and financing, broker-dealer, and insurance services; debit cards; and online banking services. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.