Head to Head Contrast: OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) vs. Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH)

OP Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) and Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for OP Bancorp and Pathward Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OP Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50
Pathward Financial	0	0	3	0	3.00

OP Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $17.75, indicating a potential upside of 18.57%. Pathward Financial has a consensus target price of $101.00, indicating a potential upside of 34.04%. Given Pathward Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Pathward Financial is more favorable than OP Bancorp.

Volatility and Risk

OP Bancorp has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.6% of OP Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.6% of OP Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares OP Bancorp and Pathward Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OP Bancorp	$102.06 million	2.19	$25.64 million	$2.00	7.49
Pathward Financial	$684.00 million	2.29	$175.67 million	$8.14	9.26

Pathward Financial has higher revenue and earnings than OP Bancorp. OP Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pathward Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares OP Bancorp and Pathward Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OP Bancorp	17.09%	12.79%	1.10%
Pathward Financial	21.11%	20.82%	2.40%

Dividends

OP Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. OP Bancorp pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pathward Financial pays out 2.5% 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.

Summary

Pathward Financial beats OP Bancorp on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OP Bancorp

OP Bancorp is the bank holding company for Open Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The bank provides deposit accounts, commercial and small-business lending, and other banking services to businesses and individuals. Open Bank has historically focused on serving Korean-American customers as well as other small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individuals. Its operations include markets in California and other U.S. regions, including Texas and Georgia.

About Pathward Financial

Pathward Financial, Inc. is a financial services holding company whose principal subsidiary is Pathward, National Association. Formerly known as Meta Financial Group, the company adopted the Pathward name in 2022; its bank subsidiary was also renamed as part of the rebranding. Pathward provides banking, payments and specialty finance services to consumers and businesses across the United States. Its offerings include deposit accounts, prepaid and payment solutions, and services that support tax refund disbursements.