Head-To-Head Review: BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) and Mid-Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSVB)

Mid-Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSVB) and BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mid-Southern Bancorp and BankUnited’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid-Southern Bancorp	$11.71 million	3.44	$1.46 million	$0.54	25.91
BankUnited	$957.97 million	2.26	$178.67 million	$2.32	12.47

BankUnited has higher revenue and earnings than Mid-Southern Bancorp. BankUnited is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mid-Southern Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Mid-Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.17, meaning that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BankUnited has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Mid-Southern Bancorp and BankUnited, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mid-Southern Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
BankUnited	2	7	0	0	1.78

BankUnited has a consensus price target of $30.50, indicating a potential upside of 5.46%. Given BankUnited’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BankUnited is more favorable than Mid-Southern Bancorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.1% of Mid-Southern Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of BankUnited shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.2% of Mid-Southern Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of BankUnited shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Mid-Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. BankUnited pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Mid-Southern Bancorp pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BankUnited pays out 50.0% 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. BankUnited has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. BankUnited is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Mid-Southern Bancorp and BankUnited’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid-Southern Bancorp	12.43%	4.28%	0.55%
BankUnited	8.71%	8.06%	0.58%

Summary

BankUnited beats Mid-Southern Bancorp on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mid-Southern Bancorp

Mid-Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mid-Southern Savings Bank, FSB that provides various banking products and services to individuals and business customers. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and term deposits. The company also offers loans secured by first mortgages on one- to four-family residences, including home equity loans and lines of credit; commercial and multifamily real estate loans; construction loans secured by single-family residences; commercial and multifamily real estate loans; land and lot loans; commercial business loans; consumer loans, including new and used manufactured homes, automobiles and truck, boats, and motorcycles and recreational vehicle loans; loans secured by savings deposits and other personal loans; and unsecured consumer loans. In addition, it holds and manages an investment securities portfolio. The company provides its products and services through its main office in Salem; and through its branch offices located in Mitchell and Orleans, Indiana, as well as through loan production offices located in New Albany, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Salem, Indiana.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services. Its loans portfolio includes commercial loans, including equipment loans, secured and unsecured lines of credit, formula-based lines of credit, owner-occupied commercial real estate term loans and lines of credit, mortgage warehouse lines, subscription finance facilities, letters of credit, commercial credit cards, small business administration and U.S. department of agriculture product offerings, export-import bank financing products, trade finance, and business acquisition finance credit facilities; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgages; and other consumer loans. The company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services. It operates through a network of banking centers located in Florida counties and the New York metropolitan area, as well as Dallas, Texas. The company was formerly known as BU Financial Corporation. BankUnited, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida.