Comparing Burke & Herbert Financial Services (NASDAQ:BHRB) and Fold (NASDAQ:FLD)

Fold (NASDAQ:FLD) and Burke & Herbert Financial Services (NASDAQ:BHRB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Fold and Burke & Herbert Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fold	N/A	60.59%	26.06%
Burke & Herbert Financial Services	21.68%	14.95%	1.44%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

56.9% of Fold shares are held by institutional investors. 66.8% of Fold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.9% of Burke & Herbert Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Fold and Burke & Herbert Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fold	1	0	3	1	2.80
Burke & Herbert Financial Services	0	3	2	0	2.40

Fold presently has a consensus target price of $7.83, indicating a potential upside of 164.19%. Burke & Herbert Financial Services has a consensus target price of $71.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.63%. Given Fold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Fold is more favorable than Burke & Herbert Financial Services.

Risk & Volatility

Fold has a beta of 0.17, meaning that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Burke & Herbert Financial Services has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Fold and Burke & Herbert Financial Services”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fold	N/A	N/A	-$1.87 million	($0.75)	-3.95
Burke & Herbert Financial Services	$402.33 million	2.51	$35.71 million	$7.04	9.52

Burke & Herbert Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Fold. Fold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Burke & Herbert Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Fold beats Burke & Herbert Financial Services on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fold

FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, and similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets operating in the clean/renewable energy, water sustainability, agricultural technology, shared economy software, and mobility sectors. The company was formerly known as Emerald ESG Acquisition Corp. FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

About Burke & Herbert Financial Services

Burke Herbert Financial Services Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking products and financial services to small to medium-sized businesses, their owners and employees, professional corporations, non-profits, and individuals. It operates through the following loan portfolio segments: Commercial Real Estate, Owner-Occupied Commercial Real Estate, Acquisition, Construction, and Development, Commercial and Industrial, Single Family Residential (1-4 Units), and Consumer Non-Real Estate and Other. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes leasing of the real estate collateral or income generated from the sale of the collateral. The Owner-Occupied Commercial Real Estate segment focuses on the operations of the business that occupies the property and the value of the collateral. The Acquisition, Construction, and Development segment offers creditworthiness of the borrower, project completion within budget, sale after completion, and the value of the collateral. The Commercial and Industrial segment is involved in the operations of the business and the value of the collateral. The Single Family Residential (1-4 Units) segment provides loans for investment purpose carry risk associated with the continued creditworthiness of the borrower, the value of the collateral, and either the net operating income generated from the lease of the real estate collateral or income generated from the sale of the collateral. The Consumer Non-Real Estate and Other segment covers loans carry risk associated with the creditworthiness of the borrower and the value of the collateral. The company was founded on September 14, 2022 and is headquartered in Alexandria, VA.