Reviewing Catalyst Bancorp (NASDAQ:CLST) and Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Kearny Financial and Catalyst Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kearny Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
Catalyst Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Kearny Financial currently has a consensus price target of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.74%. Given Kearny Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Kearny Financial is more favorable than Catalyst Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

Kearny Financial has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Catalyst Bancorp has a beta of 0.14, indicating that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kearny Financial and Catalyst Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kearny Financial	$134.50 million	3.30	-$86.67 million	($1.45)	-4.74
Catalyst Bancorp	$5.42 million	9.44	$600,000.00	($0.82)	-14.35

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.0% of Kearny Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.1% of Catalyst Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 8.6% of Kearny Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Catalyst Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kearny Financial	-27.43%	3.05%	0.31%
Catalyst Bancorp	N/A	-4.12%	-1.20%

Summary

Kearny Financial beats Catalyst Bancorp on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides various loans, such as multi-family and nonresidential real estate mortgage loans, commercial term loans and lines of credit, one- to four-family residential mortgage loans, and home equity loans and lines of credit; loans to individuals, builders, or developers for the construction of multi-family residential buildings or commercial real estate, or for the construction or renovation of one- to four-family residences; overdraft lines of credit; and personal loans. In addition, it engages in the investment activities. Kearny Financial Corp. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey.

About Catalyst Bancorp

Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Catalyst Bank that provides various banking services to individuals and businesses in Louisiana. The company accepts various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand and NOW accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also offers single family residential first mortgage loans, commercial real estate mortgage loans, multi-family residential mortgage loans, commercial and industrial loans, construction and land loans, consumer loans, and other loans. In addition, the company invests in various types of securities comprising mortgage-backed securities, the U.S. treasury obligations, securities of various federal agencies and of state and municipal governments, certificates of deposit at federally insured banks and savings institutions, and federal funds. Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Opelousas, Louisiana.