Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC – Get Free Report) and Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares Flushing Financial and Popular’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Flushing Financial | -6.46% | 3.25% | 0.24% |
| Popular | 14.15% | 11.89% | 0.90% |
Dividends
Flushing Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Popular pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Flushing Financial pays out -87.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Popular pays out 32.7% 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. Flushing Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Flushing Financial | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Popular | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2.75 |
Flushing Financial presently has a consensus price target of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 4.10%. Popular has a consensus price target of $112.25, indicating a potential upside of 8.98%. Given Popular’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Popular is more favorable than Flushing Financial.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Flushing Financial and Popular”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Flushing Financial | $484.72 million | 1.03 | -$31.33 million | ($1.01) | -14.74 |
| Popular | $4.33 billion | 1.70 | $612.80 million | $8.56 | 12.03 |
Popular has higher revenue and earnings than Flushing Financial. Flushing Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Popular, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
67.1% of Flushing Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Popular shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.3% of Flushing Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Popular shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Flushing Financial has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Popular has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Popular beats Flushing Financial on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Flushing Financial
Flushing Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Flushing Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to consumers, businesses, and governmental units. It offers various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, non-interest bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides mortgage loans secured by multi-family residential, commercial real estate, one-to-four family mixed-use property, one-to-four family residential property, and commercial business loans; construction loans; small business administration loans and other small business loans; mortgage loan surrogates, such as mortgage-backed securities; and consumer loans, including overdraft lines of credit, as well as the United States government securities, corporate fixed-income securities, and other marketable securities. It operates full-service banking offices in Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Kings, and New York counties, New York; and an internet branch under the iGObanking and BankPurely brands. Flushing Financial Corporation was founded in 1929 and is based in Uniondale, New York.
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.
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