Northfield Bancorp (NFBK) Competitors

Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) and Northfield Bancorp (NASDAQ:NFBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend BRKL or NFBK?

Brookline Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $15.25, suggesting a potential upside of 35.62%. Northfield Bancorp has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.02%. Given Brookline Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Brookline Bancorp is more favorable than Northfield Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brookline Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Northfield Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is BRKL or NFBK more profitable?

Northfield Bancorp has a net margin of 12.35% compared to Brookline Bancorp's net margin of 11.22%. Brookline Bancorp's return on equity of 6.32% beat Northfield Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brookline Bancorp	11.22%	6.32%	0.66%
Northfield Bancorp	12.35%	4.34%	0.53%

Does the media favor BRKL or NFBK?

In the previous week, Brookline Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than Northfield Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Brookline Bancorp and 2 mentions for Northfield Bancorp. Brookline Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.66 beat Northfield Bancorp's score of -0.35 indicating that Brookline Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Brookline Bancorp	Positive
Northfield Bancorp	Neutral

Which has higher valuation & earnings, BRKL or NFBK?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brookline Bancorp	$654.14M	1.53	$68.71M	$0.82	13.71
Northfield Bancorp	$254.73M	2.01	$29.94M	$0.76	15.84

Which has more volatility & risk, BRKL or NFBK?

Brookline Bancorp has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northfield Bancorp has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BRKL or NFBK a better dividend stock?

Brookline Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Northfield Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Brookline Bancorp pays out 65.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northfield Bancorp pays out 68.4% 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. Brookline Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BRKL or NFBK?

78.9% of Brookline Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.5% of Northfield Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Brookline Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Northfield Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Brookline Bancorp beats Northfield Bancorp on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.