Reviewing FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) and Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION)

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) 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, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and FS Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	1	15	5	1	2.27
FS Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. presently has a consensus price target of $63.58, suggesting a potential upside of 17.63%. FS Bancorp has a consensus price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.93%. Given FS Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe FS Bancorp is more favorable than Zions Bancorporation, N.A..

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and FS Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$4.94 billion	1.62	$899.00 million	$6.00	9.01
FS Bancorp	$219.52 million	1.24	$33.35 million	$4.28	8.47

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. FS Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FS Bancorp pays out 27.1% 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. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and FS Bancorp has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and FS Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	18.19%	13.70%	1.03%
FS Bancorp	15.19%	11.08%	1.05%

Volatility & Risk

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats FS Bancorp on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association provides various banking products and related services primarily in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. It operates through Zions Bank, California Bank & Trust, Amegy Bank, National Bank of Arizona, Nevada State Bank, Vectra Bank Colorado, and The Commerce Bank of Washington segments. The company offers commercial and small business banking services to small- and medium-sized businesses, such as commercial, industrial, and owner-occupied lending and leasing; municipal and public finance services; depository account and cash management services; commercial and small business cards; merchant processing services; corporate trust services; and correspondent banking and international lending services. It also provides capital markets and investment banking services, including loan syndications, foreign exchange services, interest rate derivatives, fixed income securities underwriting, advisory and capital raising, commercial mortgage-backed security conduit lending, and power and project financing; and commercial real estate lending services consisting of term and construction/land development financing for commercial and residential purposes. In addition, the company offers retail banking services comprising residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, installment consumer loans, depository account services, consumer cards, and personal trust services; and wealth management services consisting of investment management, fiduciary and estate, and advanced business succession and estate planning services. The company was formerly known as ZB, National Association and changed its name to Zions Bancorporation, National Association in September 2018. Zions Bancorporation, National Association was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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.