Analyzing Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) and Cullman Bancorp (NASDAQ:CULL)

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

Risk and Volatility

Flagstar Financial has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cullman Bancorp has a beta of 0.05, meaning that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Flagstar Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Cullman Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Flagstar Financial pays out -0.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cullman Bancorp pays out 24.0% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.9% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.7% of Cullman Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Flagstar Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of Cullman Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flagstar Financial	-18.40%	-11.35%	-0.78%
Cullman Bancorp	16.90%	3.60%	0.88%

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flagstar Financial	0	3	0	0	2.00
Cullman Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Flagstar Financial currently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 25.96%. Given Flagstar Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Flagstar Financial is more favorable than Cullman Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Flagstar Financial and Cullman Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flagstar Financial	$2.93 billion	1.30	-$79.00 million	($4.36)	-2.09
Cullman Bancorp	$16.54 million	3.89	$3.95 million	$0.50	19.02

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

Summary

Cullman Bancorp beats Flagstar Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Cullman Bancorp

Cullman Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Cullman Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It offers checking, savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, construction, multi-family real estate, and consumer loans; term, line of credit, and agricultural loans; mortgage, home equity, and personal and auto loans; and invests in securities. In addition, it offers debit and credit card services; online banking, automated clearing house, and merchant services; and mobile banking, bill pay, and ATM services. Cullman Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Cullman, Alabama.