Contrasting Carver Bancorp (NASDAQ:CARV) and CFSB Bancorp (NASDAQ:CFSB)

Carver Bancorp (NASDAQ:CARV) and CFSB Bancorp (NASDAQ:CFSB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Carver Bancorp and CFSB Bancorp’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carver Bancorp	$31.30 million	0.25	-$4.40 million	($1.00)	-1.57
CFSB Bancorp	$11.34 million	4.26	$1.45 million	$0.07	104.00

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

Risk and Volatility

Carver Bancorp has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CFSB Bancorp has a beta of 0.12, meaning that its share price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Carver Bancorp and CFSB Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carver Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
CFSB Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Carver Bancorp and CFSB Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carver Bancorp	-11.87%	-23.86%	-0.61%
CFSB Bancorp	3.22%	0.49%	0.11%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

18.2% of Carver Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.4% of CFSB Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Carver Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of CFSB Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

CFSB Bancorp beats Carver Bancorp on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carver Bancorp

Carver Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Carver Federal Savings Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking services for consumers, businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental and quasi-governmental agencies primarily in New York. It accepts various deposit products, including demand, savings, and time deposits; passbook and statement accounts, and certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. The company provides lending products, such as one-to-four family residential, multifamily real estate, and commercial real estate lending; and construction, business and small business administration, and consumer and other loans. In addition, it offers other consumer and commercial banking products and services, including debit cards, online account opening and banking, online bill pay, and telephone banking, as well as check cashing, wire transfer, bill payment, reloadable prepaid card, and money order services. Carver Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About CFSB Bancorp

CFSB Bancorp, Inc. focuses on operating as a holding company for Colonial Federal Savings Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and small businesses. It accepts various deposits, including non-interest-bearing checking accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company offers one- to four-family residential real estate loans, multi-family real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, second mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and consumer loans. In addition, it invests in various types of investment grade investment securities and liquid assets comprising the U.S. treasury obligations, securities of various government-sponsored enterprises, corporate debt, mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, asset-backed securities, municipal obligations, mutual funds, and certificates of deposit of federally insured institutions. Further, it offers online and mobile banking, and online bill pay services. The company operates through three full-service banking offices and one limited-service branch office in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Quincy, Massachusetts. CFSB Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of 15 Beach, MHC.