Reviewing NewtekOne (NASDAQ:NEWT) and BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

NewtekOne (NASDAQ:NEWT) and BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares NewtekOne and BankUnited’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NewtekOne	15.57%	17.97%	2.26%
BankUnited	14.76%	9.13%	0.79%

Volatility & Risk

NewtekOne has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BankUnited has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

38.4% of NewtekOne shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of BankUnited shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of NewtekOne shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of BankUnited shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NewtekOne and BankUnited”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NewtekOne	$383.33 million	0.82	$60.51 million	$2.22	4.92
BankUnited	$1.12 billion	2.62	$268.35 million	$3.65	11.32

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for NewtekOne and BankUnited, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NewtekOne	1	4	1	0	2.00
BankUnited	3	5	6	0	2.21

NewtekOne currently has a consensus target price of $16.33, suggesting a potential upside of 49.44%. BankUnited has a consensus target price of $49.45, suggesting a potential upside of 19.71%. Given NewtekOne’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NewtekOne is more favorable than BankUnited.

Dividends

NewtekOne pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. BankUnited pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. NewtekOne pays out 34.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BankUnited pays out 36.2% 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. NewtekOne has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and BankUnited has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. NewtekOne is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

BankUnited beats NewtekOne on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NewtekOne

NewtekOne, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Newtek Bank, National Association that engages in the provision of various business and financial solutions under the Newtek brand name to the small- and medium-sized business market. The company accepts demand, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposits; and provides loans including SBA loans, commercial and industrial loans, and commercial real estate loans. It is also involved in the provision of electronic payment processing services comprising credit and debit card processing services, check approval services, processing equipment, and software, as well as cloud-based Point of Sale systems for a various restaurant, retail, assisted living, taxi cabs, parks, and golf course businesses. In addition, it offers wholesale brokerage insurance agency services; and payroll management, and related payment and tax reporting services to independent business owners. Further, the company provides website hosting, dedicated server hosting, cloud hosting, web design and development, internet marketing, ecommerce, data storage, backup and disaster recovery, and other related services, including consulting and implementing technology solutions for enterprise and commercial clients as well as SMBs. The company was formerly known as Newtek Business Services Corp. and changed its name to NewtekOne, Inc. in January 2023. NewtekOne, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services. Its loans portfolio includes commercial loans, including equipment loans, secured and unsecured lines of credit, formula-based lines of credit, owner-occupied commercial real estate term loans and lines of credit, mortgage warehouse lines, subscription finance facilities, letters of credit, commercial credit cards, small business administration and U.S. department of agriculture product offerings, export-import bank financing products, trade finance, and business acquisition finance credit facilities; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgages; and other consumer loans. The company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services. It operates through a network of banking centers located in Florida counties and the New York metropolitan area, as well as Dallas, Texas. The company was formerly known as BU Financial Corporation. BankUnited, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida.