Reviewing Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) and Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp	-5.97%	5.04%	0.54%
Flushing Financial	5.48%	3.75%	0.28%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.0% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Flushing Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Flushing Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Eagle Bancorp and Flushing Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00
Flushing Financial	0	3	1	0	2.25

Eagle Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $29.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.51%. Flushing Financial has a consensus price target of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.72%. Given Flushing Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Flushing Financial is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp.

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Flushing Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Eagle Bancorp pays out -47.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Flushing Financial pays out 101.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Eagle Bancorp and Flushing Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp	$647.06 million	1.36	$100.53 million	($1.40)	-20.76
Flushing Financial	$198.01 million	2.22	$28.66 million	$0.87	17.34

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

Volatility and Risk

Eagle Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flushing Financial has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Flushing Financial beats Eagle Bancorp on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for EagleBank that provides commercial and consumer banking services primarily in the United States. The company also offers various commercial and consumer lending products comprising commercial loans for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate lines of credit, and government contract financing; asset based lending and accounts receivable financing; construction and commercial real estate loans; business equipment financing; consumer home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, and term loans; consumer installment loans, such as auto and personal loans; personal credit cards; and residential mortgage loans. In addition, it provides online and mobile banking services; checking and saving accounts; and other deposit services, including cash management services, business sweep accounts, lock boxes, remote deposit captures, account reconciliation services, merchant card services, safety deposit boxes, and automated clearing house origination, as well as after-hours depositories and ATM services. Further, the company offers insurance products and services through a referral program; and treasury management services. The company serves sole proprietors, small and medium-sized businesses, partnerships, corporations, and non-profit organizations and associations, as well as investors. Eagle Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

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.