Contrasting Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS) & SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK)

Pioneer Bancorp (NASDAQ:PBFS) and SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Pioneer Bancorp and SR Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pioneer Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
SR Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

24.7% of SR Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Pioneer Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Pioneer Bancorp and SR Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pioneer Bancorp	15.90%	5.70%	0.83%
SR Bancorp	-28.30%	-5.52%	-1.01%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pioneer Bancorp and SR Bancorp’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pioneer Bancorp	$75.37 million	3.77	$21.95 million	$0.64	17.08
SR Bancorp	$38.38 million	2.48	-$10.86 million	N/A	N/A

Pioneer Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than SR Bancorp.

Summary

Pioneer Bancorp beats SR Bancorp on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pioneer Bancorp

Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Pioneer Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services in New York. The company accepts various deposit products, such as demand, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. Its loan products include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, commercial construction, residential mortgage lending, consumer loans, and home equity lines of credit. The company also invests in the U.S. governmental securities, fixed rate collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage-backed securities, fixed-rate investment grade bonds, and equity securities. In addition, the company offers personal and commercial insurance products, including homeowners, automobile, and comprehensive business insurance; employee benefit products and services, such as group health, dental, disability, and life insurance products, as well as defined contribution, defined benefit administration, and human resource management services; and wealth management services comprising investment advice, retirement income planning, estate planning, business succession, and employer retirement planning. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in Albany, New York. Pioneer Bancorp, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Pioneer Bancorp, MHC.

About SR Bancorp

SR Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Somerset Regal Bank that provides customary retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and local municipalities in the communities of Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Essex counties in New Jersey. It offers deposit instruments, including noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loans comprising one- to four family-residential mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans, and rehabilitation loans; and bill payment services. In addition, it is involved in the investment activities. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Bound Brook, New Jersey.