Head to Head Contrast: Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) versus WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD)

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for WaFd and Nicolet Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WaFd	0	3	1	1	2.60
Nicolet Bankshares	0	2	4	1	2.86

WaFd currently has a consensus price target of $35.25, indicating a potential upside of 18.53%. Nicolet Bankshares has a consensus price target of $183.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.62%. Given WaFd’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe WaFd is more favorable than Nicolet Bankshares.

Profitability

This table compares WaFd and Nicolet Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WaFd	18.47%	8.98%	0.89%
Nicolet Bankshares	21.77%	11.36%	1.62%

Dividends

WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. WaFd pays out 34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 16.3% 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. WaFd has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Nicolet Bankshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

WaFd has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.7% of WaFd shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of WaFd shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares WaFd and Nicolet Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WaFd	$1.41 billion	1.56	$226.07 million	$3.17	9.38
Nicolet Bankshares	$556.52 million	6.17	$150.69 million	$8.81	18.61

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

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats WaFd on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts. It also provides single-family dwellings, construction, land acquisition and development, consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies; holds and markets real estate properties; and debit and credit cards, as well as acts as the trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. The company was formerly known as Washington Federal, Inc. and changed its name to WaFd, Inc in September 2023. WaFd, Inc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.