Reviewing Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) and Bluegreen Vacations (OTCMKTS:BVHBB)

Bluegreen Vacations (OTCMKTS:BVHBB) and Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Bluegreen Vacations pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Finward Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Bluegreen Vacations pays out 10.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Finward Bancorp pays out 13.3% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.7% of Bluegreen Vacations shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Finward Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 88.2% of Bluegreen Vacations shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of Finward Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bluegreen Vacations and Finward Bancorp’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bluegreen Vacations	$919.43 million	1.33	$64.39 million	$3.71	19.41
Finward Bancorp	$96.53 million	1.09	$8.38 million	$3.60	6.75

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

Profitability

This table compares Bluegreen Vacations and Finward Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bluegreen Vacations	6.26%	24.03%	4.46%
Finward Bancorp	14.11%	11.12%	0.73%

Risk and Volatility

Bluegreen Vacations has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Finward Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Bluegreen Vacations and Finward Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bluegreen Vacations	0	0	0	0	N/A
Finward Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Summary

Bluegreen Vacations beats Finward Bancorp on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bluegreen Vacations

Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation operates as a vacation ownership company. The company markets and sells vacation ownership interests (VOI); and manages resorts in leisure and urban destinations, including Orlando, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and New Orleans, and others. It also provides resort management, mortgage, title, reservation, and construction design and development services; and financing to qualified VOI purchasers, as well as management services to the vacation club and homeowners' associations. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

About Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company's deposit products include non-interest- and interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificate accounts, and retirement savings plans. Its loan products portfolio comprises residential mortgage loans that enable borrowers to purchase existing homes, refinance existing homes, or construct new homes; construction loans primarily to individuals and contractors; commercial real estate loans; consumer loans to individuals for personal, household, or family purposes; home equity line of credit; home improvement loans and equity loans; commercial business loans; government loans; and loans to municipalities. The company also offers estate and retirement planning, guardianships, land trusts, profit sharing and 401(k) retirement plans, IRA and Keogh accounts, and investment agency accounts, as well as serves as the personal representative of estates, and acts as trustee for revocable and irrevocable trusts. In addition, it provides insurance and annuity investments to wealth management customers; holds real estate properties; and operates as a real estate investment trust. The company was formerly known as NorthWest Indiana Bancorp and changed its name to Finward Bancorp in May 2021. Finward Bancorp was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Munster, Indiana.