Comparing Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) and Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB)

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB) and Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Timberland Bancorp has a beta of 0.36, meaning that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

21.6% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.5% of Timberland Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Timberland Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and Timberland Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	0	0	0	0	0.00
Timberland Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

This table compares Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and Timberland Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	7.54%	N/A	N/A
Timberland Bancorp	25.44%	11.43%	1.49%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and Timberland Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	$9.72 million	1.89	$730,000.00	$0.72	24.31
Timberland Bancorp	$114.63 million	2.43	$29.16 million	$3.68	9.60

Timberland Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD. Timberland Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Timberland Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Timberland Bancorp pays out 30.4% 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. Timberland Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Timberland Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Timberland Bancorp beats Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD

Gouverneur Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Gouverneur Savings and Loan Association that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in New York. It accepts passbook savings, NOW, money market deposit, and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include mortgage loans, one- to four-family residential loans, commercial real estate loans, and multi-family residential real estate loans, residential and commercial construction loans, commercial land loans, home equity loans, lines of credit, commercial loans, automobiles, motorcycles, campers, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as personal secured and unsecured loans. It also invests in municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Government agencies and government-sponsored obligations, and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company offers online, mobile, bill pay, and telephone banking; electronic or paper statements; and ATM, debit cards, direct deposits, mobile remote deposit capture, automatic payments and transfers, bank checks, wire transfers, and safe deposit box services. It serves primarily the St. Lawrence County, and Jefferson and Lewis counties in New York State. The company was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Gouverneur, New York.

About Timberland Bancorp

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Timberland Bank that provides various community banking services in Washington. It offers various deposit products, including money market deposit, checking, and regular savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to four-family residential, multi-family, and commercial real estate loans; and construction lending products, such as custom and owner/builder, speculative one- to four-family, commercial, multi-family, land development, and land development. In addition, it offers consumer loans comprising home equity lines of credit and second mortgage loans, automobile loans, boat loans, motorcycle loans, recreational vehicle loans, savings account loans, and unsecured loans; and commercial business loans. Timberland Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Hoquiam, Washington.