Head to Head Review: Blue Foundry Bancorp (NASDAQ:BLFY) versus Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB)

Blue Foundry Bancorp (NASDAQ:BLFY) and Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Blue Foundry Bancorp has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Independent Bank has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Blue Foundry Bancorp and Independent Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blue Foundry Bancorp	-9.82%	-2.84%	-0.44%
Independent Bank	19.14%	8.66%	1.26%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Blue Foundry Bancorp and Independent Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blue Foundry Bancorp	$49.07 million	5.60	-$11.91 million	($0.46)	-28.78
Independent Bank	$1.17 billion	3.26	$205.12 million	$5.04	15.69

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.5% of Blue Foundry Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Independent Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Blue Foundry Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Independent Bank shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Blue Foundry Bancorp and Independent Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blue Foundry Bancorp	1	0	0	0	1.00
Independent Bank	1	2	4	1	2.63

Independent Bank has a consensus target price of $90.71, suggesting a potential upside of 14.71%. Given Independent Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Independent Bank is more favorable than Blue Foundry Bancorp.

Summary

Independent Bank beats Blue Foundry Bancorp on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Blue Foundry Bancorp

Blue Foundry Bancorp operates as a bank holding company for Blue Foundry Bank, a savings bank that offers various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers saving, time, and non-interest bearing deposits; demand accounts; and loans, such as one-to-four family residential property, multi-family, residential real estate, non-residential real estate, consumer, construction, and commercial and industrial loans, as well as junior liens and home equity lines of credit. The company was formerly known as Boiling Springs Bancorp and changed its name to Blue Foundry Bancorp in July 2019. Blue Foundry Bancorp was founded in 1939 and is based in Rutherford, New Jersey.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit. It offers commercial real estate and construction, commercial and industrial, small business, secured and unsecured commercial, and consumer real estate loans; term loans and revolving/nonrevolving lines of credit; overdraft protection and letters of credit; and residential mortgages and home equity loans and lines. In addition, the company provides cash management services, such as ACH transaction processing, positive pay, and remote deposit services; investment management and trust services to individuals, institutions, small businesses, and charitable institutions; mobile, online, and telephone banking; estate settlement, financial planning, tax services, and other services; automated teller machines; debit and credit cards; and mutual fund and unit investment trust shares, third party model portfolios, general securities, fixed and variable annuities, and life insurance products, as well as advisory platforms. Further, it invests in low-income housing tax credit projects; holds, maintains, and disposes foreclosed properties; and operates as an investment advisor. Independent Bank Corp. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Rockland, Massachusetts.