Financial Survey: BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) versus FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW)

BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) and FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for BEO Bancorp and FS Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BEO Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
FS Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

FS Bancorp has a consensus target price of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.46%. Given FS Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe FS Bancorp is more favorable than BEO Bancorp.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BEO Bancorp and FS Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BEO Bancorp	$57.76 million	1.92	$16.49 million	N/A	N/A
FS Bancorp	$206.39 million	1.45	$35.02 million	$4.21	9.21

FS Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than BEO Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares BEO Bancorp and FS Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BEO Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
FS Bancorp	15.88%	11.35%	1.11%

Risk and Volatility

BEO Bancorp has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

BEO Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. FS Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. FS Bancorp pays out 26.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FS Bancorp has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. FS Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

FS Bancorp beats BEO Bancorp on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BEO Bancorp

BEO Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Eastern Oregon that provides commercial and consumer financing, banking and mortgage lending, and other services in Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington. The company offers checking, money market, time deposits, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, agricultural, real estate, installment, credit card, mortgage, term, home, construction, farm, and refinancing loans; lines of credit; home enhancement loan programs; Internet banking and bill payment services; business sweep and banking services; and automated teller machines and safe deposit facilities, as well as originates and sells mortgage loans into the secondary market. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Heppner, Oregon.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company provides one-to-four-family residential first mortgages, second mortgage/home equity loan products, non-mortgage commercial business loans, commercial real estate loans, and construction and development loans, as well as consumer loans, which primarily include personal lines of credit, credit cards, automobile, direct home improvement, loans on deposit, and recreational loans. It operates full bank service branches and home loan production offices in suburban communities in the greater Puget Sound area, including Snohomish, King, Pierce, Jefferson, Kitsap, Clallam, Grays Harbor, and Thurston counties; and a loan production office in the market area of the Tri-Cities. FS Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.