Reviewing WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) & California BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyCalifornia BanCorp (NASDAQ:BCAL – Get Free Report) and WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for California BanCorp and WaFd, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| California BanCorp | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2.83 |
| WaFd | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
California BanCorp presently has a consensus target price of $24.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.33%. WaFd has a consensus target price of $36.25, suggesting a potential upside of 7.00%. Given California BanCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe California BanCorp is more favorable than WaFd.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares California BanCorp and WaFd”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| California BanCorp | $237.07 million | 2.96 | $63.06 million | $1.84 | 11.85 |
| WaFd | $1.41 billion | 1.78 | $226.07 million | $3.17 | 10.69 |
WaFd has higher revenue and earnings than California BanCorp. WaFd is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than California BanCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
California BanCorp has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WaFd has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares California BanCorp and WaFd’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| California BanCorp | 26.01% | 10.44% | 1.49% |
| WaFd | 18.47% | 8.98% | 0.89% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
55.4% of California BanCorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of WaFd shares are held by institutional investors. 8.1% of California BanCorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of WaFd shares are held 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.
Dividends
California BanCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. WaFd pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. California BanCorp pays out 21.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WaFd pays out 34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. WaFd has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. WaFd is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
California BanCorp beats WaFd on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About California BanCorp
Southern California Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A. that provides various financial products to individuals, professionals, and small-to medium-sized businesses. The company offers checking, personal and business savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides home equity lines of credit, business loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate and construction loans, small business administration loans, letters of credit, and personal and business credit cards. In addition, the company provides cash vault, sweep accounts, and remote deposit capture services; online and mobile banking services; courier service; lockbox services; and merchant services. It operates branches in San Diego, Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties, as well as the Inland Empire. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
About WaFd
WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts. It also provides single-family dwellings, construction, land acquisition and development, consumer lot, multi-family residential, commercial real estate, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and industrial loans. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage services, such as individual and business insurance policies; holds and markets real estate properties; and debit and credit cards, as well as acts as the trustee. It serves consumers, mid-sized and large businesses, and owners and developers of commercial real estate. The company was formerly known as Washington Federal, Inc. and changed its name to WaFd, Inc in September 2023. WaFd, Inc was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.