Contrasting Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) & Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG)

Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) and Greene County Bancorp (NASDAQ:GCBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.9% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.4% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Greene County Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Flagstar Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Greene County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Flagstar Financial pays out -1.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Greene County Bancorp pays out 23.2% 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. Greene County Bancorp has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Greene County Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Flagstar Financial has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greene County Bancorp has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Flagstar Financial and Greene County Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flagstar Financial	-17.16%	-10.72%	-0.76%
Greene County Bancorp	21.02%	12.55%	0.91%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Flagstar Financial and Greene County Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flagstar Financial	$2.58 billion	1.81	-$1.09 billion	($3.69)	-3.06
Greene County Bancorp	$67.10 million	6.44	$24.77 million	$1.55	16.38

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Flagstar Financial and Greene County Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flagstar Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40
Greene County Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Flagstar Financial currently has a consensus price target of $12.90, suggesting a potential upside of 14.26%. Given Flagstar Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Flagstar Financial is more favorable than Greene County Bancorp.

Summary

Greene County Bancorp beats Flagstar Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flagstar Financial

Flagstar Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Flagstar Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company’s deposit products include interest-bearing checking and money market, savings, non-interest-bearing, and retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise multi-family loans; commercial real estate loans; acquisition, development, and construction loans; commercial and industrial loans; one-to-four family loans; specialty finance loans and leases; warehouse loans; and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, boat and recreational vehicle indirect lending, point of sale consumer loans, and other consumer loans, including overdraft loans. The company offers cash management products; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and online banking, mobile banking, and bank-by-phone services. It primarily serves individuals, small and mid-size businesses, and professional associations. The company was formerly known as New York Community Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Flagstar Financial, Inc. in October 2024. Flagstar Financial, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Hicksville, New York.

About Greene County Bancorp

Greene County Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for The Bank of Greene County that provides various financial services in the United States. The company's deposit products include savings, NOW accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, non-interest bearing checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio consists of residential, construction and land, and multifamily loans; commercial real estate mortgage loans; consumer loans, such as loans on new and used automobiles, personal loans, and home equity loans, as well as other consumer installment loans, including passbook loans, unsecured home improvement loans, recreational vehicle loans, and deposit account overdrafts; and commercial loans. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Catskill, New York. Greene County Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of Greene County Bancorp, MHC.