Comparing Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL)

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and Amalgamated Financial (NASDAQ:AMAL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amalgamated Financial has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Amalgamated Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Republic Bancorp pays out 31.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amalgamated Financial pays out 14.1% 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. Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years. Republic Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.9% of Amalgamated Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.6% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Amalgamated Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Republic Bancorp and Amalgamated Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Republic Bancorp	20.65%	10.92%	1.52%
Amalgamated Financial	24.19%	16.53%	1.25%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Republic Bancorp and Amalgamated Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Republic Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Amalgamated Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00

Republic Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $78.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.50%. Amalgamated Financial has a consensus price target of $32.17, indicating a potential downside of 3.55%. Given Republic Bancorp’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Republic Bancorp is more favorable than Amalgamated Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Republic Bancorp and Amalgamated Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Republic Bancorp	$427.52 million	3.10	$90.37 million	$5.26	12.95
Amalgamated Financial	$387.41 million	2.64	$87.98 million	$3.40	9.81

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

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Amalgamated Financial on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About Amalgamated Financial

Amalgamated Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, investment management, and trust and custody services for commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including non-interest bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand products, savings accounts, money market accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also provides various commercial loans comprising commercial and industrial, multifamily mortgage, and commercial real estate loans; residential mortgage loans; and retail loans, such as residential real estate, consumer solar, and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company offers online banking, bill payment, online cash management, and safe deposit box rental services; debit and ATM cards; and trust, custody, and investment management services comprising asset safekeeping, corporate actions, income collections, proxy, account transition, asset transfers, and conversion management services. Further, it provides investment products, such as funds spanning equity, fixed-income, real estate, and alternative investment products; and brokerage, asset management, and insurance products. Amalgamated Financial Corp. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in New York, New York.