Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) and Independent Bank Group (NASDAQ:IBTX) Head-To-Head Survey

Independent Bank Group (NASDAQ:IBTX) and Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Independent Bank Group has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flushing Financial has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Independent Bank Group and Flushing Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independent Bank Group	0	2	4	0	2.67
Flushing Financial	0	3	1	0	2.25

Independent Bank Group presently has a consensus price target of $60.33, suggesting a potential downside of 0.55%. Flushing Financial has a consensus price target of $15.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.87%. Given Flushing Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Flushing Financial is more favorable than Independent Bank Group.

Dividends

Independent Bank Group pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Flushing Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Independent Bank Group pays out -14.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Flushing Financial pays out 101.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Independent Bank Group and Flushing Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independent Bank Group	-43.45%	4.49%	0.52%
Flushing Financial	5.48%	3.75%	0.28%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.9% of Independent Bank Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Flushing Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Independent Bank Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Flushing Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Independent Bank Group and Flushing Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independent Bank Group	$471.74 million	5.33	$43.20 million	($10.46)	-5.80
Flushing Financial	$198.01 million	2.38	$28.66 million	$0.87	16.07

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

Summary

Independent Bank Group beats Flushing Financial on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Independent Bank Group

Independent Bank Group, Inc., through its subsidiary, Independent Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, demand deposits, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial construction, land, and land development loans; residential real estate loans; single-family interim construction loans; commercial loans, such as SBA guaranteed loans, business term loans, lines of credit, and energy related loans; agricultural loans for farmers and ranchers; consumer installment loans comprising loans to purchase cars, boats, and other recreational vehicles; and residential mortgages, as well as mortgage warehouse purchase loans. In addition, it offers debit and credit cards, online and mobile banking, estatement, bank-by-mail, and direct deposit services; wealth management services; and business accounts and management services consisting of analyzed business checking, business savings, and treasury management services. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in McKinney, Texas.

About Flushing Financial

Flushing Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Flushing Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to consumers, businesses, and governmental units. It offers various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, non-interest bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides mortgage loans secured by multi-family residential, commercial real estate, one-to-four family mixed-use property, one-to-four family residential property, and commercial business loans; construction loans; small business administration loans and other small business loans; mortgage loan surrogates, such as mortgage-backed securities; and consumer loans, including overdraft lines of credit, as well as the United States government securities, corporate fixed-income securities, and other marketable securities. It operates full-service banking offices in Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Kings, and New York counties, New York; and an internet branch under the iGObanking and BankPurely brands. Flushing Financial Corporation was founded in 1929 and is based in Uniondale, New York.