Critical Analysis: Equitable Financial (EQFN) & Its Rivals

Profitability

This table compares Equitable Financial and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equitable Financial	8.66%	5.85%	0.54%
Equitable Financial Competitors	8.86%	5.19%	0.53%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.2% of Equitable Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of shares of all “Federal savings institutions” companies are owned by institutional investors. 11.3% of Equitable Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.6% of shares of all “Federal savings institutions” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Equitable Financial and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equitable Financial	$31.33 million	$2.71 million	12.50
Equitable Financial Competitors	$1.68 billion	$303.01 million	3.26

Equitable Financial’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Equitable Financial. Equitable Financial is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Equitable Financial has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equitable Financial’s competitors have a beta of 0.28, indicating that their average share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equitable Financial beats its competitors on 5 of the 9 factors compared.

About Equitable Financial

Equitable Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Equitable Bank that provides various banking products and services in Nebraska, the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts; recorder checks; online and mobile banking; remote deposit capture; voice banking; credit card processing; debit and gift cards; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides home, home equity, auto, personal, real estate and construction, operating lines of credit, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as equipment financing. In addition, the company offers foreign currency and exchanges; financial planning; wealth management; investment advisory; and retirement services. It operates through branches located in Grand Island, North Platte, and Omaha. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska.