Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB) & Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Head to Head Survey

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB) and Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Banner pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banner pays out 36.4% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and Banner’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	7.54%	N/A	N/A
Banner	21.80%	10.32%	1.17%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

21.6% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Banner shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Banner shares are owned by 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and Banner”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	$9.72 million	1.76	$730,000.00	$0.72	22.63
Banner	$832.99 million	2.60	$168.90 million	$5.49	11.57

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and Banner, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	0	0	0	0	0.00
Banner	0	4	3	0	2.43

Banner has a consensus target price of $71.17, indicating a potential upside of 12.02%. Given Banner’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Banner is more favorable than Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD.

Risk & Volatility

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banner has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Banner beats Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD

Gouverneur Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Gouverneur Savings and Loan Association that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in New York. It accepts passbook savings, NOW, money market deposit, and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include mortgage loans, one- to four-family residential loans, commercial real estate loans, and multi-family residential real estate loans, residential and commercial construction loans, commercial land loans, home equity loans, lines of credit, commercial loans, automobiles, motorcycles, campers, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as personal secured and unsecured loans. It also invests in municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Government agencies and government-sponsored obligations, and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company offers online, mobile, bill pay, and telephone banking; electronic or paper statements; and ATM, debit cards, direct deposits, mobile remote deposit capture, automatic payments and transfers, bank checks, wire transfers, and safe deposit box services. It serves primarily the St. Lawrence County, and Jefferson and Lewis counties in New York State. The company was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Gouverneur, New York.

About Banner

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans. The company also provides commercial real estate loans, including owner-occupied, investment properties, and multifamily residential real estate loans; construction, land, and land development loans; one- to four-family residential real estate lending; commercial business loans; agricultural loans; consumer and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, automobile, and boat and recreational vehicle loans, as well as loans secured by deposit accounts; and small business administration loans. In addition, it provides electronic and digital banking services comprising debit cards and ATMs, internet banking, remote deposit, and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1890 and is based in Walla Walla, Washington.