Head-To-Head Analysis: Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) & Hingham Institution for Savings (NASDAQ:HIFS)

Community West Bancshares (NASDAQ:CWBC) and Hingham Institution for Savings (NASDAQ:HIFS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Community West Bancshares and Hingham Institution for Savings”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community West Bancshares	$196.20 million	3.63	$38.17 million	$1.85	14.19
Hingham Institution for Savings	$236.78 million	2.82	$54.55 million	$30.02	10.19

Hingham Institution for Savings has higher revenue and earnings than Community West Bancshares. Hingham Institution for Savings is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Community West Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.8% of Community West Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.3% of Hingham Institution for Savings shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Community West Bancshares shares 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Community West Bancshares and Hingham Institution for Savings, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community West Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60
Hingham Institution for Savings	0	0	1	0	3.00

Community West Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $28.17, suggesting a potential upside of 7.30%. Given Community West Bancshares’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Community West Bancshares is more favorable than Hingham Institution for Savings.

Risk & Volatility

Community West Bancshares has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hingham Institution for Savings has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Community West Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Hingham Institution for Savings pays an annual dividend of $2.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Community West Bancshares pays out 25.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hingham Institution for Savings pays out 8.4% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Community West Bancshares and Hingham Institution for Savings’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community West Bancshares	16.86%	10.12%	1.16%
Hingham Institution for Savings	25.94%	8.22%	0.88%

About Community West Bancshares

Community West Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for Community West Bank, N.A. that provides various financial products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and fixed rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposits; and cash management products. It also provides commercial, commercial real estate, consumer, manufactured housing, and small business administration loans, as well as agricultural loans for real estate and operating lines; home equity lines of credit collateralized by residential real estate; single family real estate loans; and installment loans consisting of automobile and general-purpose loans. The company serves small to medium-sized businesses and their owners, professionals, high-net worth individuals, and non-profit organizations. Community West Bancshares was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Goleta, California.

About Hingham Institution for Savings

Hingham Institution for Savings provides various financial products and services to individuals and small businesses in the United States. It offers savings, checking, money market, demand, and negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company provides commercial and residential real estate, construction, home equity, commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans. In addition, it offers ATMs, debit cards, and Internet-based banking services. The company offers its services through a network of offices in Boston; Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco Bay Area. Hingham Institution for Savings was incorporated in 1834 and is headquartered in Hingham, Massachusetts.