Critical Review: Ames National (NASDAQ:ATLO) & BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF)

BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF) and Ames National (NASDAQ:ATLO) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Dividends

BOK Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ames National pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. BOK Financial pays out 32.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ames National pays out 89.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. BOK Financial has increased its dividend for 19 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares BOK Financial and Ames National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BOK Financial	13.93%	10.62%	1.06%
Ames National	12.95%	6.90%	0.50%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for BOK Financial and Ames National, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BOK Financial	0	9	1	0	2.10
Ames National	0	0	0	0	N/A

BOK Financial currently has a consensus price target of $97.10, indicating a potential upside of 6.90%. Given BOK Financial’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe BOK Financial is more favorable than Ames National.

Volatility and Risk

BOK Financial has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ames National has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

34.4% of BOK Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.5% of Ames National shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.9% of BOK Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Ames National 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BOK Financial and Ames National’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BOK Financial	$3.13 billion	1.87	$530.75 million	$6.86	13.24
Ames National	$83.52 million	2.12	$10.82 million	$1.21	16.31

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

Summary

BOK Financial beats Ames National on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BOK Financial

BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers lending, treasury, cash management, and customer commodity risk management products for small businesses, middle market, and larger commercial customers, as well as operates TransFund electronic funds transfer network. The Consumer Banking segment engages in the provision of retail lending and deposit services to small business customers through retail branch network; and mortgage loan origination and servicing activities. The Wealth Management segment offers fiduciary, private bank, insurance, and investment advisory services; and brokerage and trading services primarily related to providing liquidity to the mortgage markets through trading of U.S. government agency mortgage-backed securities and related derivative contracts, as well as underwrites state and municipal securities. The company also provides commercial loans, such as loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchases of equipment, and other needs of commercial customers; and service, healthcare, manufacturing, wholesale/retail, energy, and other sector loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans for the construction of buildings or other improvements to real estate and property held by borrowers for investment purposes; residential mortgage and personal loans; and automated teller machine, call center, and Internet and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

About Ames National

Ames National Corporation operates as a multi-bank holding company that provides banking products and services primarily in Boone, Clarke, Hancock, Marshall, Polk, Story, and Union counties in central, north central, and south-central Iowa. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts; and time deposits, such as money market accounts and certificates of deposit. It also provides loans, such as short-term and medium-term commercial and agricultural real estate, residential real estate loans, equipment, vehicle, and home improvement loans; consumer loans to finance consumer purchases, such as automobiles, trucks, recreational vehicles, household furnishings, boats, personal loans, and lines of credit; agricultural and business operating loans and lines of credit; and originates mortgage loans for sale into the secondary market. In addition, the company offers cash management, merchant credit card processing, safe deposit box, wire transfer, direct deposit, and automated/video teller machine access services; and automatic drafts for various accounts, as well as wealth management services. Further, it provides farm management, investment, and custodial services for individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations; and online, mobile, and private banking services. Ames National Corporation was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in Ames, Iowa.