Comparing Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) & NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK)

NB Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBK) and Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NB Bancorp and Heritage Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NB Bancorp	$236.08 million	2.63	$9.82 million	N/A	N/A
Heritage Financial	$303.13 million	2.04	$61.76 million	$1.33	13.44

Heritage Financial has higher revenue and earnings than NB Bancorp.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for NB Bancorp and Heritage Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NB Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Heritage Financial	0	2	1	0	2.33

NB Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.08%. Heritage Financial has a consensus price target of $22.25, indicating a potential upside of 24.51%. Given Heritage Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Heritage Financial is more favorable than NB Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.3% of Heritage Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of NB Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Heritage Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares NB Bancorp and Heritage Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NB Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Heritage Financial	15.70%	8.18%	0.96%

Summary

Heritage Financial beats NB Bancorp on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NB Bancorp

NB Bancorp, Inc. focuses on operating as a bank holding company for Needham Bank that provides various banking products and services in Greater Boston metropolitan area and surrounding communities in Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut, southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The company offers various deposits, including certificate of deposit, individual retirement, money market, savings, NOW, demand deposit, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts; and commercial real estate and multifamily, one- to four-family residential real estate, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. It also invests in securities consisting of U.S. treasury and federal agency securities, government-sponsored residential mortgage-backed securities, municipal bonds, and corporate bonds. The company was founded in 1892 and is based in Needham, Massachusetts.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company's loan portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, owner-occupied and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans, one-to-four family residential loans, real estate construction and land development loans, consumer loans, commercial business loans, lines of credit, term equipment financing, and term real estate loans, as well as commercial business loans to a range of businesses in industries that include real estate and rental and leasing, healthcare, accommodation and food services, retail trade, and construction. It also originates loans that are guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration; and provides objective advice from trusted advisers. The company was formerly known as Heritage Financial Corporation, M.H.C. and changed its name to Heritage Financial Corporation in 1998. Heritage Financial Corporation was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Olympia, Washington.