Critical Review: NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK) vs. Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG)

NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK) and Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NB Bancorp	4.47%	2.40%	0.38%
Flagstar Financial	-18.40%	-11.35%	-0.78%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for NB Bancorp and Flagstar Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NB Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Flagstar Financial	0	2	0	0	2.00

NB Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.51%. Flagstar Financial has a consensus price target of $11.75, indicating a potential upside of 17.50%. Given Flagstar Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Flagstar Financial is more favorable than NB Bancorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.9% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of NB Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NB Bancorp and Flagstar Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NB Bancorp	$163.52 million	5.25	$9.82 million	N/A	N/A
Flagstar Financial	$2.93 billion	1.42	-$79.00 million	($4.36)	-2.29

NB Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Flagstar Financial.

Summary

NB Bancorp beats Flagstar Financial on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NB Bancorp

NB Bancorp, Inc. focuses on operating as a bank holding company for Needham Bank that provides various banking products and services in Greater Boston metropolitan area and surrounding communities in Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut, southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The company offers various deposits, including certificate of deposit, individual retirement, money market, savings, NOW, demand deposit, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts; and commercial real estate and multifamily, one- to four-family residential real estate, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. It also invests in securities consisting of U.S. treasury and federal agency securities, government-sponsored residential mortgage-backed securities, municipal bonds, and corporate bonds. The company was founded in 1892 and is based in Needham, Massachusetts.

About Flagstar Financial

Flagstar Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Flagstar Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company’s deposit products include interest-bearing checking and money market, savings, non-interest-bearing, and retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise multi-family loans; commercial real estate loans; acquisition, development, and construction loans; commercial and industrial loans; one-to-four family loans; specialty finance loans and leases; warehouse loans; and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, boat and recreational vehicle indirect lending, point of sale consumer loans, and other consumer loans, including overdraft loans. The company offers cash management products; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and online banking, mobile banking, and bank-by-phone services. It primarily serves individuals, small and mid-size businesses, and professional associations. The company was formerly known as New York Community Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Flagstar Financial, Inc. in October 2024. Flagstar Financial, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Hicksville, New York.