Contrasting First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) and Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC)

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

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Northwest Bancorp	$124.95 million	0.59	-$6.61 million	$0.04	194.75
Westamerica Bancorporation	$311.17 million	3.82	$138.64 million	$4.59	10.16

Westamerica Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than First Northwest Bancorp. Westamerica Bancorporation 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.1% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of First Northwest Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for First Northwest Bancorp and Westamerica Bancorporation, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Northwest Bancorp	1	1	1	0	2.00
Westamerica Bancorporation	0	3	0	0	2.00

First Northwest Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $12.75, indicating a potential upside of 63.67%. Westamerica Bancorporation has a consensus price target of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.47%. Given First Northwest Bancorp’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Northwest Bancorp is more favorable than Westamerica Bancorporation.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Northwest Bancorp	0.32%	0.25%	0.02%
Westamerica Bancorporation	43.19%	13.10%	2.02%

Risk & Volatility

First Northwest Bancorp has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats First Northwest Bancorp on 8 of the 13 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 Westamerica Bancorporation

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, and consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.