OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) & NASB Financial (OTCMKTS:NASB) Head to Head Survey

NASB Financial (OTCMKTS:NASB) and OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for NASB Financial and OceanFirst Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NASB Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
OceanFirst Financial	0	4	1	0	2.20

OceanFirst Financial has a consensus price target of $21.33, indicating a potential upside of 18.12%. Given OceanFirst Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe OceanFirst Financial is more favorable than NASB Financial.

Profitability

This table compares NASB Financial and OceanFirst Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NASB Financial	16.14%	6.84%	0.98%
OceanFirst Financial	10.33%	5.14%	0.63%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NASB Financial and OceanFirst Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NASB Financial	$178.01 million	1.58	$28.72 million	$4.03	9.68
OceanFirst Financial	$687.16 million	1.51	$70.98 million	$1.16	15.57

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

Dividends

NASB Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. OceanFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. NASB Financial pays out 34.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OceanFirst Financial pays out 69.0% 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.0% of OceanFirst Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 47.0% of NASB Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of OceanFirst Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

NASB Financial has a beta of 0.05, meaning that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OceanFirst Financial has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

OceanFirst Financial beats NASB Financial on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NASB Financial

NASB Financial, Inc. operates as a unitary thrift holding company for North American Savings Bank, F.S.B. that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts. It also mortgages and refinancing products, including conventional, veterans administration, federal housing administration, jumbo, and IRA residential real-estate loans. In addition, the company provides commercial real estate development and commercial loans, such as multifamily, retail, single-tenant, multi-tenant, office, industrial, and other loans; investment property loans; and construction and development loans. The company was founded in 1927 and is based in Grandview, Missouri.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers. The company also offers commercial real estate, multi-family, land loans, construction, and commercial and industrial loans; fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans that are secured by one-to-four family residences; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans and lines of credit, student loans, overdraft line of credit, loans on savings accounts, and other consumer loans. In addition, it invests in mortgage-backed securities, securities issued by the U.S. Government and agencies, corporate securities, and other investments. Further, the company offers bankcard, trust and asset management services; and bank owned life insurance products. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Red Bank, New Jersey.