Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) versus First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) Critical Survey

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Western New England Bancorp and First Hawaiian, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western New England Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25
First Hawaiian	2	7	2	0	2.00

Western New England Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.99%. First Hawaiian has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.81%. Given First Hawaiian’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than Western New England Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Western New England Bancorp and First Hawaiian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western New England Bancorp	12.43%	6.78%	0.61%
First Hawaiian	24.41%	10.27%	1.19%

Dividends

Western New England Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Western New England Bancorp pays out 33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 45.2% 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Western New England Bancorp and First Hawaiian”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western New England Bancorp	$131.13 million	2.12	$15.27 million	$0.84	16.48
First Hawaiian	$1.17 billion	2.61	$276.27 million	$2.30	10.89

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.9% of Western New England Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Western New England Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of First Hawaiian shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Western New England Bancorp has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Hawaiian beats Western New England Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts. It also offers residential real estate loans, including first mortgages, home equity loans, and home equity lines, and secured by one-to-four family residential properties; commercial and industrial loans, such as letters of credit, revolving lines of credit, working capital, equipment financing, and term loans; commercial mortgage loans; construction and land development loans; home equity loans comprising home equity revolving loans and lines of credit; and consumer loans, including automobile, spa and pool, collateral, and personal lines of credit. In addition, the company provides automated teller machine (ATM), telephone and online banking, remote deposit capture, cash management, overdraft and safe deposit facility, and night deposit services. The company was formerly known as Westfield Financial, Inc. and changed its name to Western New England Bancorp, Inc. in October 2016. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and construction lending, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers wealth management, personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, investment management, retirement planning, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.