Northfield Bancorp (NFBK) Competitors

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

Is NFBK or BRKL a better dividend stock?

Northfield Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Brookline Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Northfield Bancorp pays out 68.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brookline Bancorp pays out 65.9% 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 and insiders hold more shares of NFBK or BRKL?

65.5% of Northfield Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.9% of Brookline Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of Northfield Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Brookline Bancorp 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.

Does the media refer more to NFBK or BRKL?

In the previous week, Brookline Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than Northfield Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Brookline Bancorp and 3 mentions for Northfield Bancorp. Brookline Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.40 beat Northfield Bancorp's score of -0.43 indicating that Brookline Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Northfield Bancorp	Neutral
Brookline Bancorp	Neutral

Which has better earnings and valuation, NFBK or BRKL?

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
Northfield Bancorp	$254.73M	2.00	$29.94M	$0.76	15.74
Brookline Bancorp	$654.14M	1.52	$68.71M	$0.82	13.63

Do analysts rate NFBK or BRKL?

Northfield Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.70%. Brookline Bancorp has a consensus price target of $15.25, suggesting a potential upside of 36.40%. Given Brookline Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Brookline Bancorp is more favorable than Northfield Bancorp.

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

Is NFBK or BRKL 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
Northfield Bancorp	12.35%	4.34%	0.53%
Brookline Bancorp	11.22%	6.32%	0.66%

Which has more volatility and risk, NFBK or BRKL?

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

Summary

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