Contrasting Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW)

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) and Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

FS Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Sierra Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. FS Bancorp pays out 26.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sierra Bancorp pays out 34.8% 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. FS Bancorp has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Sierra Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FS Bancorp and Sierra Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FS Bancorp	$219.52 million	1.46	$33.35 million	$4.28	9.98
Sierra Bancorp	$203.87 million	2.42	$40.56 million	$2.87	12.94

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for FS Bancorp and Sierra Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FS Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
Sierra Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

FS Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.31%. Sierra Bancorp has a consensus target price of $34.50, indicating a potential downside of 7.08%. Given FS Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe FS Bancorp is more favorable than Sierra Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares FS Bancorp and Sierra Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FS Bancorp	15.19%	11.16%	1.06%
Sierra Bancorp	19.70%	11.17%	1.08%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Sierra Bancorp beats FS Bancorp on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts. The company's loan products include agricultural, commercial, consumer, real estate, construction, and mortgage loans. It also offers automated teller machines; electronic point-of-sale payment alternatives; online and automated telephone banking services; and remote deposit capture and automated payroll services for business customers. Sierra Bancorp was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Porterville, California.