Contrasting Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) and Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) and Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Enterprise Financial Services has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chester Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Enterprise Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Chester Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 19.2%. Enterprise Financial Services pays out 24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enterprise Financial Services has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Enterprise Financial Services and Chester Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enterprise Financial Services	$1.00 billion	2.27	$201.37 million	$5.31	11.57
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Enterprise Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Chester Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Enterprise Financial Services and Chester Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enterprise Financial Services	20.15%	10.74%	1.24%
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Enterprise Financial Services and Chester Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enterprise Financial Services	0	2	2	0	2.50
Chester Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Enterprise Financial Services currently has a consensus target price of $66.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.42%. Given Enterprise Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Enterprise Financial Services is more favorable than Chester Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 38.8% of Chester Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Enterprise Financial Services beats Chester Bancorp on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enterprise Financial Services

Enterprise Financial Services Corp operates as the holding company for Enterprise Bank & Trust that offers banking and wealth management services to individuals and corporate customers primarily in Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico. It provides checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, real estate construction and development, residential real estate, small business administration, agricultural, consumer, and other loan products. In addition, it offers treasury management and international trade services; tax credit brokerage services; life insurance premium and sponsor finance; tax credit related lending; other deposit accounts, such as community associations, property management, third party escrow, and trust services; treasury management product and services; customized solutions and products; cash management; fiduciary, investment management, and financial advisory services; and customer hedging products, including international banking, card services, and tax credit businesses. Further, the company provides online, device applications, text, and voice banking; remote deposit capture; internet banking, mobile banking, cash management, positive pay services, fraud detection and prevention, automated payables, check image, and statement and document imaging; and controlled disbursements, repurchase agreements, and sweep investment accounts. Enterprise Financial Services Corp was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.

About Chester Bancorp

Chester Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Chester National Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in Chester, Illinois. It offers checking accounts, such as regular checking, student checking, golden checking, and club checking accounts; savings accounts, including statement savings, Christmas club, and money market accounts; and certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides loans comprising mortgage, construction, lot, home equity, consumer, and business loans; and reorder check services. It operates two full service offices in Sparta, Illinois; and Perryville, Missouri. Chester Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Chester, Illinois.