Financial Survey: Provident Bancorp (NASDAQ:PVBC) versus SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK)

Provident Bancorp (NASDAQ:PVBC) and SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.6% of Provident Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.7% of SR Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of Provident Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Provident Bancorp and SR Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Provident Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
SR Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Provident Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.61%. Given Provident Bancorp’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Provident Bancorp is more favorable than SR Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Provident Bancorp and SR Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Provident Bancorp	7.28%	3.17%	0.42%
SR Bancorp	-28.30%	-5.52%	-1.01%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Provident Bancorp and SR Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Provident Bancorp	$57.07 million	3.32	$10.95 million	$0.84	12.76
SR Bancorp	$38.38 million	2.73	-$10.86 million	N/A	N/A

Provident Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than SR Bancorp.

Summary

Provident Bancorp beats SR Bancorp on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Provident Bancorp

Provident Bancorp, Inc. is a Maryland corporation that was formed in 2019 to be the successor corporation to Provident Bancorp, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, and the holding company for The Provident Bank. The Provident Bank, a subsidiary of Provident Bancorp, Inc. is an innovative, commercial bank that finds solutions for its business and private clients.

About SR Bancorp

SR Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Somerset Regal Bank that provides customary retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and local municipalities in the communities of Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Essex counties in New Jersey. It offers deposit instruments, including noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loans comprising one- to four family-residential mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans, and rehabilitation loans; and bill payment services. In addition, it is involved in the investment activities. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Bound Brook, New Jersey.