Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) and Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Head to Head Analysis

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of Waterstone Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Waterstone Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.8% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Waterstone Financial and Great Southern Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waterstone Financial	$201.29 million	1.67	$26.40 million	$1.49	12.40
Great Southern Bancorp	$342.78 million	2.14	$70.97 million	$6.31	10.59

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

Risk & Volatility

Waterstone Financial has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Waterstone Financial and Great Southern Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waterstone Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00
Great Southern Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33

Great Southern Bancorp has a consensus price target of $65.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.72%. Given Great Southern Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Great Southern Bancorp is more favorable than Waterstone Financial.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waterstone Financial	13.12%	7.67%	1.18%
Great Southern Bancorp	21.33%	11.31%	1.24%

Dividends

Waterstone Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Waterstone Financial pays out 45.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 27.3% 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.

Summary

Great Southern Bancorp beats Waterstone Financial on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts. It also provides transaction deposits, interest bearing transaction accounts, demand deposits, non-interest-bearing demand accounts, and time deposits; secured and unsecured lines; commercial real estate construction loans; term loans for working capital, inventory, and general corporate use; and personal term loans and investment services. The Mortgage Banking segment offers residential mortgage loans for the purpose of sale in the secondary market. It also invests in a portfolio of securities include mortgage-backed securities, government-sponsored and private-label enterprise bonds, collateralized mortgage and municipal obligations, and other debt securities. The company was formerly known as Wauwatosa Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Waterstone Financial, Inc. in August 2008. The company was founded in 1921 and is based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

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.