Reviewing Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) & Ottawa Bancorp (OTCMKTS:OTTW)

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) and Ottawa Bancorp (OTCMKTS:OTTW) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Fulton Financial and Ottawa Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fulton Financial	20.68%	12.78%	1.27%
Ottawa Bancorp	9.15%	4.28%	0.48%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fulton Financial and Ottawa Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fulton Financial	$1.89 billion	2.09	$391.61 million	$2.08	10.57
Ottawa Bancorp	$18.48 million	1.85	$1.68 million	$0.72	20.64

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Fulton Financial and Ottawa Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fulton Financial	0	5	2	0	2.29
Ottawa Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Fulton Financial presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.05%. Given Fulton Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Fulton Financial is more favorable than Ottawa Bancorp.

Volatility and Risk

Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ottawa Bancorp has a beta of 0.07, suggesting that its stock price is 93% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Fulton Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Ottawa Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Fulton Financial pays out 36.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ottawa Bancorp pays out 61.1% 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. Fulton Financial has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Fulton Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Ottawa Bancorp 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.

Summary

Fulton Financial beats Ottawa Bancorp on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company offers consumer loans products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans, personal lines of credit, and checking account overdraft protection; construction and jumbo residential mortgage loans; and commercial lending products comprising commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and construction loans, as well as equipment lease financing loans. In addition, it offers letters of credit, cash management services, and traditional deposit products; and wealth management services, including investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and investment advisory services. Further, the company owns trust preferred securities; and sells various life insurance products. It provides its products and services through financial center offices, as well as through a network of automated teller machines, telephone banking, mobile banking, and online banking. Fulton Financial Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

About Ottawa Bancorp

Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for OSB Community Bank, a savings bank that provides various financial services to individual and corporate customers in Illinois. The company's deposit products include saving, checking, money market, and interest-bearing accounts, as well as certificate of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial, non-residential real estate, one-to-four family residential, multi-family residential, consumer direct, and purchased auto loans; business and construction loans; motor vehicle, home improvement, share, and personal unsecured loans, as well as home equity and small personal credit lines; mortgage loans; and student loans. The company also provides cash management solutions, such as remote deposit capture, automated clearing house/payroll direct deposit, and merchant services, as well as commercial leasing services. In addition, it offers notary, lamination, night depository, document faxing, money gift envelopes, safe deposit boxes, and coin counting, as well as debit and credit cards, and digital banking services. The company was formerly known as Ottawa Savings Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. in October 2016. Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1871 and is based in Ottawa, Illinois.