Critical Contrast: ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) versus Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG)

ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) and Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for ECB Bancorp and Flagstar Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ECB Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Flagstar Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40

Flagstar Financial has a consensus target price of $12.90, suggesting a potential upside of 8.77%. Given Flagstar Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Flagstar Financial is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.

Volatility & Risk

ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flagstar Financial has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ECB Bancorp and Flagstar Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ECB Bancorp	$26.21 million	5.16	$3.99 million	$0.47	31.55
Flagstar Financial	$2.60 billion	1.89	-$1.09 billion	($3.69)	-3.21

ECB Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Flagstar Financial. Flagstar Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ECB Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares ECB Bancorp and Flagstar Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ECB Bancorp	5.85%	2.40%	0.30%
Flagstar Financial	-17.16%	-10.72%	-0.76%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.9% of Flagstar Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of ECB Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of Flagstar Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

About ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc. operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, the company invests in securities, consisting primarily of U.S. government and federal agency obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. ECB Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is based in Everett, Massachusetts.

About Flagstar Financial

Flagstar Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Flagstar Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company’s deposit products include interest-bearing checking and money market, savings, non-interest-bearing, and retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan products comprise multi-family loans; commercial real estate loans; acquisition, development, and construction loans; commercial and industrial loans; one-to-four family loans; specialty finance loans and leases; warehouse loans; and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, boat and recreational vehicle indirect lending, point of sale consumer loans, and other consumer loans, including overdraft loans. The company offers cash management products; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and online banking, mobile banking, and bank-by-phone services. It primarily serves individuals, small and mid-size businesses, and professional associations. The company was formerly known as New York Community Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Flagstar Financial, Inc. in October 2024. Flagstar Financial, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Hicksville, New York.