Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Financial Comparison

Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Ohio Valley Banc and Associated Banc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ohio Valley Banc	14.97%	8.97%	0.93%
Associated Banc	7.23%	9.45%	0.98%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.1% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Associated Banc 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.

Dividends

Ohio Valley Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Ohio Valley Banc pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc pays out 102.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ohio Valley Banc has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Associated Banc has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Associated Banc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ohio Valley Banc and Associated Banc, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ohio Valley Banc	0	0	1	0	3.00
Associated Banc	0	8	3	0	2.27

Associated Banc has a consensus price target of $28.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.43%. Given Associated Banc’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Associated Banc is more favorable than Ohio Valley Banc.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ohio Valley Banc and Associated Banc”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ohio Valley Banc	$88.93 million	2.11	$11.00 million	$3.00	13.30
Associated Banc	$2.39 billion	1.82	$123.14 million	$0.94	27.96

Associated Banc has higher revenue and earnings than Ohio Valley Banc. Ohio Valley Banc is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Associated Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Associated Banc beats Ohio Valley Banc on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ohio Valley Banc

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Ohio Valley Bank Company that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Consumer Finance. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts, demand deposits, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides various residential real estate loans, including one-to four-family residential mortgages; commercial loans for securing equipment, inventory, stock, commercial real estate, and rental property; and consumer loans secured by automobiles, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and other personal property, as well as personal loans, unsecured credit card receivables, floor plan and student loans, and construction loans. In addition, it offers safe deposit box, wire transfer, credit card, home equity loans, and Internet banking services; and financial management online services, such as cash management and news updates related to repossession auctions, current rates, and general bank news. Further, the company provides automatic teller machines (ATMs), consumer finance, seasonal tax preparation, commercial property, and various liability insurance services, as well as trust and online-only consumer direct mortgage services. The company owns and operates ATMs, including off-site ATMs. It operates offices in Ohio and West Virginia. The company was founded in 1872 and is based in Gallipolis, Ohio.

About Associated Banc

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit. It also provides deposit and cash management solutions, such as commercial checking and interest-bearing deposit products, cash vault and night depository services, liquidity solutions, payables and receivables solutions, and information services; specialized financial services, such as interest rate risk management and foreign exchange solutions; fiduciary services, such as administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, fiduciary and corporate agency services, and institutional asset management services; and investable funds solutions, including savings, money market deposit accounts, IRA accounts, CDs, fixed and variable annuities, full-service, discount, and online investment brokerage; investment advisory services; and trust and investment management accounts. In addition, the company offers deposit and transactional solutions, including checking, credit, debit and pre-paid cards, online banking and bill pay; and money transfer services. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.