First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) vs. Blue Foundry Bancorp (NASDAQ:BLFY) Head-To-Head Review

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) and Blue Foundry Bancorp (NASDAQ:BLFY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.3% of First United shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of Blue Foundry Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.1% of First United shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Blue Foundry Bancorp 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for First United and Blue Foundry Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First United	0	0	1	0	3.00
Blue Foundry Bancorp	1	0	0	0	1.00

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First United and Blue Foundry Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First United	$121.42 million	1.96	$24.51 million	$3.91	9.44
Blue Foundry Bancorp	$49.07 million	5.60	-$11.91 million	($0.46)	-28.78

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First United	20.55%	13.39%	1.31%
Blue Foundry Bancorp	-9.82%	-2.84%	-0.44%

Risk & Volatility

First United has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blue Foundry Bancorp has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First United beats Blue Foundry Bancorp on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First United

First United Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First United Bank & Trust that provides various retail and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. It offers various deposit products, which includes checking, savings, money market deposit, and regular and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), as well as certificates of deposit. The company loan portfolio includes commercial loans secured by real estate, commercial equipment, vehicles, or other assets of the borrower; commercial real estate loans for residential and commercial development, agricultural purpose properties, and service industry buildings, such as restaurants and motels, retail buildings, and general purpose business space; residential mortgage loans; home equity lines of credit; residential real estate construction loans; and indirect and direct auto loans, student loans, and other secured and unsecured lines of credit and term loans. It also offers access to multi-million-dollar certificates of deposit and the Intrafi cash service, including multi-million-dollar savings and demand deposits to municipalities, businesses, and consumers; and treasury management, cash sweep, and various checking services. In addition, the company provides trust services, which includes personal trust, investment agency accounts, charitable trusts, retirement accounts, including IRA roll-overs, 401(k) accounts and defined benefit plans, estate administration, and estate planning; and insurance products, brokerage services, and safe deposit and night depository facilities. First United Corporation was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Oakland, Maryland.

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.