Analyzing LINKBANCORP (NASDAQ:LNKB) & Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB)

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

Volatility and Risk

LINKBANCORP has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for LINKBANCORP and Bridgewater Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LINKBANCORP	0	3	1	0	2.25
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60

LINKBANCORP currently has a consensus price target of $9.63, suggesting a potential upside of 14.18%. Bridgewater Bancshares has a consensus price target of $22.33, suggesting a potential upside of 22.78%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than LINKBANCORP.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LINKBANCORP and Bridgewater Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LINKBANCORP	$186.50 million	1.69	$33.51 million	$0.90	9.37
Bridgewater Bancshares	$292.76 million	1.73	$46.09 million	$1.50	12.13

Bridgewater Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than LINKBANCORP. LINKBANCORP 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

37.5% of LINKBANCORP shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.5% of LINKBANCORP shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.1% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LINKBANCORP	17.97%	8.80%	0.89%
Bridgewater Bancshares	15.74%	10.84%	0.87%

Summary

Bridgewater Bancshares beats LINKBANCORP on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LINKBANCORP

LINKBANCORP, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for The Gratz Bank, that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, nonprofit, and business customers in Pennsylvania. Its deposit products include demand, saving, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also offers commercial real estate, commercial business, commercial real estate construction, land development, residential real estate, home equity, consumer, agricultural, and municipal loans. It also provides online banking, mobile banking, direct and remote deposit, and cash management services. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

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.