Reviewing FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) and Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI)

Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) and FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. FS Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Glacier Bancorp pays out 68.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FS Bancorp pays out 26.6% 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. FS Bancorp has increased 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.

Risk & Volatility

Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Glacier Bancorp and FS Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Glacier Bancorp	$1.27 billion	4.66	$190.14 million	$1.92	25.95
FS Bancorp	$206.39 million	1.50	$35.02 million	$4.21	9.65

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Glacier Bancorp	16.72%	6.63%	0.78%
FS Bancorp	15.88%	11.32%	1.09%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Glacier Bancorp and FS Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Glacier Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00
FS Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

FS Bancorp has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.29%. Given FS Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe FS Bancorp is more favorable than Glacier Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Glacier Bancorp beats FS Bancorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot acquisition loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; paycheck protection program loans; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Further, the company provides mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It has 224 locations, including 188 branches and 36 loan or administration offices in 75 counties within 8 states comprising Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.

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.