Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) and Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF) Critical Survey

Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) and Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bridgewater Bancshares and Malaga Financial’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridgewater Bancshares	$106.81 million	3.32	$39.96 million	$1.13	11.48
Malaga Financial	N/A	N/A	$22.98 million	$2.59	8.64

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.1% of Malaga Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 23.2% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Bridgewater Bancshares and Malaga Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridgewater Bancshares	14.27%	9.61%	0.74%
Malaga Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Bridgewater Bancshares and Malaga Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	0	3	0	3.00
Malaga Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A

Bridgewater Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.07%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than Malaga Financial.

Volatility & Risk

Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Malaga Financial has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bridgewater Bancshares beats Malaga Financial on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bridgewater Bancshares

Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bridgewater Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial real estate investors, entrepreneurs, business clients, and individuals in the United States. The company provides savings and money market accounts, demand deposits, time and brokered deposits, and interest and noninterest bearing transaction, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers commercial loans to sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other business enterprises to finance working capital, capital investment, or for other business related purposes; paycheck protection program loans; construction and land development loans; 1-4 family mortgage loans; multifamily lending products; owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company online, mobile, and direct banking services. Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

About Malaga Financial

Malaga Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Malaga Bank that provides various community banking products and services to personal and business customers. It offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market accounts, certificates of deposits, business banking, consumer, and demand deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate, single and multi-family residential mortgage, consumer, 14-unit investment property, construction, personal, and business loans; home equity lines of credit; and certificates of deposit. In addition, it offers coupon redemption, direct deposit, overdraft lines of credit, telephone transfers, U.S. savings bond redemption, and wire transfer services; and ATM and VISA debit cards, bank by mail, medallion signature guarantee, night depository, notary, safe deposit boxes, and trust deed note collection services. Further, the company provides online banking services, including bill payer, e-statements, and mobile banking services. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, California.