Financial Comparison: First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) & Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST)

First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ:FFNW) and Primis Financial (NASDAQ:FRST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for First Financial Northwest and Primis Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Northwest	0	3	0	0	2.00
Primis Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A

First Financial Northwest currently has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.13%. Given First Financial Northwest’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Financial Northwest is more favorable than Primis Financial.

Profitability

This table compares First Financial Northwest and Primis Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Northwest	3.89%	1.98%	0.21%
Primis Financial	8.73%	5.90%	0.58%

Dividends

First Financial Northwest pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Primis Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Financial Northwest pays out 157.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Primis Financial pays out 46.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Primis Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

First Financial Northwest has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Primis Financial has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.0% of First Financial Northwest shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Primis Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of First Financial Northwest shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of Primis Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Financial Northwest and Primis Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Northwest	$39.62 million	5.21	$6.30 million	$0.33	68.24
Primis Financial	$150.45 million	2.00	$9.94 million	$0.86	14.16

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

Summary

Primis Financial beats First Financial Northwest on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Financial Northwest

First Financial Northwest, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Northwest Bank that provides commercial banking services in Washington. The company offers a range of deposit products, including noninterest-bearing accounts, interest-bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise one-to-four family residential loans; multifamily and commercial real estate loans; construction/land loans; business loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, lines of credit, second mortgage term loans, auto loans, and savings account loans. The company also provides wealth management services; and online banking services, as well as debit cards and ATMs. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Renton, Washington.

About Primis Financial

Primis Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Primis Bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals and small and medium sized businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, NOW, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also provides commercial business and real estate, construction, secured asset based, small business administration, mortgage warehouse lending products, as well as financing for medical, dental, and veterinary businesses; residential mortgage, trust mortgage, home equity lines of credit, secured and unsecured personal, and consumer loans, as well as life insurance premium financing and demand loans. It also offers cash management services comprising investment/sweep, zero balance, and controlled disbursement accounts; and wire transfer, employer/payroll processing, night depository, depository transfer, merchant, ACH origination, and remote deposit capture services. In addition, the company provides debit cards, ATM services, notary services, and mobile and online banking. It operates full-service branches in Virginia and Maryland. The company was formerly known as Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Inc. and changed its name to Primis Financial Corp. Primis Financial Corp. was founded in 2004 and is based in McLean, Virginia.