Comparing Flagstar Bank, National Association (NYSE:FLG) and Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY)

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) and Flagstar Bank, National Association (NYSE:FLG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.9% of Flagstar Bank, National Association shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.4% of Flagstar Bank, National Association shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Flagstar Bank, National Association’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oak Valley Bancorp	24.05%	11.31%	1.17%
Flagstar Bank, National Association	1.08%	0.98%	0.08%

Volatility & Risk

Oak Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flagstar Bank, National Association has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Oak Valley Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Flagstar Bank, National Association pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Oak Valley Bancorp pays out 26.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Flagstar Bank, National Association pays out 133.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Oak Valley Bancorp has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Oak Valley Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Oak Valley Bancorp and Flagstar Bank, National Association, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oak Valley Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Flagstar Bank, National Association	0	4	10	0	2.71

Flagstar Bank, National Association has a consensus price target of $16.96, suggesting a potential upside of 31.22%. Given Flagstar Bank, National Association’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Flagstar Bank, National Association is more favorable than Oak Valley Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Flagstar Bank, National Association”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oak Valley Bancorp	$83.84 million	3.47	$23.91 million	$2.82	12.26
Flagstar Bank, National Association	$2.09 billion	2.57	-$177.00 million	$0.03	430.80

Oak Valley Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Flagstar Bank, National Association. Oak Valley Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flagstar Bank, National Association, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Oak Valley Bancorp beats Flagstar Bank, National Association on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oak Valley Bancorp

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including automobile loans, home mortgages, credit lines, and other personal loans. In addition, the company provides online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, merchant, night depository, extended hours, wire transfer of funds, note collection services, and automated teller machines. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Oakdale, California.

About Flagstar Bank, National Association

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.