Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) versus Norwood Financial (NASDAQ:NWFL) Financial Survey

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.1% of Norwood Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.3% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of Norwood Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norwood Financial has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	2	2	0	2.50
Norwood Financial	1	2	1	1	2.40

Bridgewater Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 21.95%. Norwood Financial has a consensus target price of $28.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.54%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than Norwood Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bridgewater Bancshares and Norwood Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridgewater Bancshares	$253.27 million	1.83	$32.83 million	$1.33	12.64
Norwood Financial	$63.45 million	3.90	-$160,000.00	$0.65	41.15

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridgewater Bancshares	14.52%	10.27%	0.80%
Norwood Financial	6.82%	10.86%	1.01%

Summary

Bridgewater Bancshares beats Norwood Financial on 9 of the 15 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 Norwood Financial

Norwood Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Wayne Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts a range of deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing transaction accounts, and statement savings and money market accounts, as well as certificate of deposits. It also provides commercial loans comprising lines of credit, revolving credit, term loans, mortgages, secured lending products, and letter of credit facilities; municipal finance lending; construction loans for commercial construction projects and single-family residences; land loans; construction financing; consumer loans; mortgage lending to finance principal residences and second home dwellings; and indirect dealer financing of new and used automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles. In addition, the company offers investment securities services; personal and business credit services; trust and investment products; and cash management, direct deposit, remote deposit capture, mobile deposit capture, automated clearing house activity, real estate settlement, and Internet and mobile banking services. Further, it engages in the annuity and mutual fund sale, and discount brokerage activities, as well as insurance agency business. The company serves consumers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities. It operates branches in Northeastern Pennsylvania; and in Delaware, Sullivan, Ontario, Otsego, and Yates Counties, New York, as well as automated teller machines. Norwood Financial Corp. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.