Financial Comparison: Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB) & Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.6% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are held by institutional investors. 15.8% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern Missouri Bancorp	19.86%	11.57%	1.25%
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	7.54%	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Southern Missouri Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays out 18.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays out 25.0% 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. Southern Missouri Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Southern Missouri Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Southern Missouri Bancorp and Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	0	0	0	0	0.00

Southern Missouri Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $62.83, indicating a potential upside of 4.55%. Given Southern Missouri Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Southern Missouri Bancorp is more favorable than Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Southern Missouri Bancorp and Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$305.35 million	2.20	$58.58 million	$5.46	11.01
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	$9.72 million	1.89	$730,000.00	$0.72	24.31

Southern Missouri Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD. Southern Missouri 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.

Summary

Southern Missouri Bancorp beats Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD on 16 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts. It also provides loans, such as residential mortgage, commercial real estate, construction, and commercial business loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity, direct and indirect automobile loans, second mortgages, mobile home loans, and loans secured by deposits. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment management services; commercial and consumer insurance; online and mobile banking services; and debit or credit cards. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

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.