Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) & Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) Head to Head Review

Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) and Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Chemung Financial and Bridgewater Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemung Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	0	3	0	3.00

Chemung Financial currently has a consensus target price of $49.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.03%. Bridgewater Bancshares has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.55%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than Chemung Financial.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chemung Financial and Bridgewater Bancshares’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemung Financial	$137.62 million	1.50	$25.00 million	$5.22	8.33
Bridgewater Bancshares	$228.85 million	1.42	$39.96 million	$1.13	10.36

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 12.0% of Chemung Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Chemung Financial and Bridgewater Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemung Financial	17.35%	12.67%	0.85%
Bridgewater Bancshares	15.37%	10.20%	0.78%

Risk and Volatility

Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bridgewater Bancshares beats Chemung Financial on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts. It also offers commercial and agricultural loans comprising loans to small to mid-sized businesses; commercial and residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including home equity lines of credit and home equity term loans. In addition, the company provides interest rate swaps, letters of credit, employee benefit plans, insurance products, mutual fund, brokerage, and tax preparation services. Further, it offers guardian, custodian, trustee, investment, pension, estate planning, and employee benefit administrative services, as well as acts as an agent for pension, profit-sharing, and other employee benefit trusts. Chemung Financial Corporation was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in Elmira, New York.

About Bridgewater Bancshares

Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bridgewater Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial real estate investors, entrepreneurs, business clients, and individuals in the United States. The company provides savings and money market accounts, demand deposits, time and brokered deposits, and interest and noninterest bearing transaction, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers commercial loans to sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other business enterprises to finance working capital, capital investment, or for other business related purposes; paycheck protection program loans; construction and land development loans; 1-4 family mortgage loans; multifamily lending products; owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company online, mobile, and direct banking services. Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.