First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) & BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) Critical Analysis

First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) and BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Northwest Bancorp and BEO Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Northwest Bancorp	$118.64 million	0.84	-$4.19 million	$0.55	19.06
BEO Bancorp	$59.32 million	1.19	$16.19 million	$13.26	4.45

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.1% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of First Northwest Bancorp 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.

Volatility & Risk

First Northwest Bancorp has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BEO Bancorp has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Northwest Bancorp and BEO Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Northwest Bancorp	4.20%	3.14%	0.23%
BEO Bancorp	N/A	16.83%	1.69%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for First Northwest Bancorp and BEO Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Northwest Bancorp	1	2	1	0	2.00
BEO Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Northwest Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $13.50, suggesting a potential upside of 28.76%. Given First Northwest Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Northwest Bancorp is more favorable than BEO Bancorp.

Summary

First Northwest Bancorp beats BEO Bancorp on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Northwest Bancorp

First Northwest Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for First Fed Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in western Washington, the United States. The company accepts various deposit instruments, including checking, money market deposit, savings, and transaction accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also originates one- to four-family mortgage loans, commercial and multi-family real estate loans, construction and land loans, and commercial business loans, as well as consumer loans primarily consisting of automobile loans, and home-equity loans and lines of credit. First Northwest Bancorp operates branch offices in Clallam, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties, Washington. First Northwest Bancorp was founded in 1923 and is based in Port Angeles, Washington.

About BEO Bancorp

BEO Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Eastern Oregon that provides commercial and consumer financing, banking and mortgage lending, and other services in Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington. The company offers checking, money market, time deposits, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, agricultural, real estate, installment, credit card, mortgage, term, home, construction, farm, and refinancing loans; lines of credit; home enhancement loan programs; Internet banking and bill payment services; business sweep and banking services; and automated teller machines and safe deposit facilities, as well as originates and sells mortgage loans into the secondary market. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Heppner, Oregon.