Contrasting Logansport Financial (OTCMKTS:LOGN) and Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC)

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and Logansport Financial (OTCMKTS:LOGN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Great Southern Bancorp and Logansport Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Southern Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00
Logansport Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $60.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.48%. Given Great Southern Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Great Southern Bancorp is more favorable than Logansport Financial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 27.9% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of Logansport Financial 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.

Risk & Volatility

Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Logansport Financial has a beta of 0.26, indicating that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Logansport Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Southern Bancorp	19.18%	11.17%	1.15%
Logansport Financial	4.49%	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Logansport Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Southern Bancorp	$355.26 million	1.94	$61.81 million	$5.87	10.36
Logansport Financial	$13.98 million	1.31	$1.25 million	$1.04	28.89

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

Dividends

Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Logansport Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 29.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Logansport Financial pays out 173.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Great Southern Bancorp beats Logansport Financial on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

About Logansport Financial

Logansport Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Logansport Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in Cass County, Indiana. The company’s personal banking products and services include checking accounts, rite accounts, NOW accounts, savings accounts, health savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts; mortgage, home equity lines of credit, home improvement, construction, commercial buildings, farm, consumer, education, and car loans, as well as loans for single family and multi-family dwellings; and overdraft, and internet and mobile banking services. It also provides business and commercial checking accounts, commercial savings accounts/certificates of deposit, money market accounts and certificates, commercial sweep accounts, ACH debit/credit capabilities, electric federal tax payment systems, remote banking and merchant card services, wires, coin services, night deposit bags, and remote deposit banking services. In addition, the company offers revolving or seasonal lines of credit, term loans for equipment, commercial real estate mortgages for expansion or acquisition, commercial letters of credit, and guaranteed loans, as well as agricultural loans. Logansport Financial Corp. was founded in 1925 and is based in Logansport, Indiana.