Analyzing West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) & AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC)

AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC) and West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for AMB Financial and West Bancorporation, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AMB Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
West Bancorporation	0	2	0	1	2.67

West Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.77%. Given West Bancorporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe West Bancorporation is more favorable than AMB Financial.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.2% of AMB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.3% of West Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 37.7% of AMB Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of West Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

AMB Financial has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Bancorporation has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AMB Financial and West Bancorporation”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AMB Financial	$18.97 million	1.42	$2.19 million	N/A	N/A
West Bancorporation	$198.50 million	1.94	$24.05 million	$1.90	11.94

West Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than AMB Financial.

Dividends

AMB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. West Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. West Bancorporation pays out 52.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares AMB Financial and West Bancorporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AMB Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Bancorporation	16.04%	13.40%	0.80%

Summary

West Bancorporation beats AMB Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AMB Financial

AMB Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for American Community Bank of Indiana that provides financial services to customers in Indiana. The company provides savings, checking, health savings, individual retirement, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers business checking accounts, business debit and credit cards, and order business checks. In addition, the company offers mortgage loans, home equity loans, construction/lot loans, community loans, vehicle loans, and loan servicing; and commercial loans, commercial real estate loans, and SBA loans. Further, it provides merchant, remote deposit, wire services, fraud protection, and ACH origination; sweep services, zero balance accounts, lockbox services, vault services, and wealth management services; online, mobile, voice, and banking services; money order and e-statement services; cashier’s checks; and safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Saint John, Indiana.

About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the financial holding company provides community banking and trust services to individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. It offers deposit services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit. The company also provides loan products comprising commercial real estate loans, construction and land development loans, commercial lines of credit, and commercial term loans; consumer loans, including loans extended to individuals for household, family, and other personal expenditures not secured by real estate; and 1-4 family residential mortgages and home equity loans. In addition, it offers online and mobile banking, treasury management services including cash management, client-generated automated clearing house transactions, remote deposit, and fraud protection services; merchant credit card processing and corporate credit cards; and administration of estates, conservatorships, personal trusts, and agency accounts. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa.