Limestone Bancorp (NASDAQ:LMST – Get Rating) and First of Long Island (NASDAQ:FLIC – Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Limestone Bancorp and First of Long Island’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Limestone Bancorp | 27.50% | 14.61% | 1.30% |
| First of Long Island | 32.01% | 12.60% | 1.10% |
Risk & Volatility
Limestone Bancorp has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First of Long Island has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Limestone Bancorp | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| First of Long Island | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Limestone Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.71%. First of Long Island has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.17%. Given First of Long Island’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First of Long Island is more favorable than Limestone Bancorp.
Dividends
Limestone Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. First of Long Island pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Limestone Bancorp pays out 8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First of Long Island pays out 41.0% 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. First of Long Island has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years. First of Long Island is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
42.3% of Limestone Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.0% of First of Long Island shares are held by institutional investors. 15.9% of Limestone Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of First of Long Island shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Limestone Bancorp and First of Long Island’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Limestone Bancorp | $66.69 million | 2.33 | $18.34 million | $2.40 | 9.75 |
| First of Long Island | $128.13 million | 2.53 | $46.93 million | $2.05 | 7.01 |
First of Long Island has higher revenue and earnings than Limestone Bancorp. First of Long Island is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Limestone Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
First of Long Island beats Limestone Bancorp on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Limestone Bancorp
Limestone Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of community bank with commercial and personal banking products. The firm includes wealth management and trust services, and an innovative on-line bank which delivers competitive deposit products and services through an on-line banking division operating under the name of Ascencia. It operates through the following segments: Commercial, Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate, Consumer, Agricultural, and Other. The company was founded by Maria L. Bouvette in 1988 and is headquartered in Louisville, KY.
About First of Long Island
The First of Long Island Corp. is a holding company, through which its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of financial services. It offers personal banking, business banking and lending services to individual, professional, corporate, institutional, and government customers. The company was founded on February 7, 1984 and is headquartered in Glen Head, NY.
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