Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Head to Head Contrast

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) and Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares OceanFirst Financial and Great Southern Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OceanFirst Financial	$692.36 million	1.48	$100.07 million	$1.29	13.85
Great Southern Bancorp	$355.26 million	1.97	$61.81 million	$6.02	10.37

OceanFirst Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Great Southern Bancorp. Great Southern Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OceanFirst Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.0% of OceanFirst Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of OceanFirst Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 27.9% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for OceanFirst Financial and Great Southern Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OceanFirst Financial	0	5	2	0	2.29
Great Southern Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25

OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus target price of $21.60, suggesting a potential upside of 20.87%. Great Southern Bancorp has a consensus target price of $59.50, suggesting a potential downside of 4.69%. Given OceanFirst Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe OceanFirst Financial is more favorable than Great Southern Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares OceanFirst Financial and Great Southern Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OceanFirst Financial	11.77%	5.02%	0.62%
Great Southern Bancorp	19.80%	11.28%	1.18%

Risk and Volatility

OceanFirst Financial has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

OceanFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. OceanFirst Financial pays out 62.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 28.6% 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.

Summary

OceanFirst Financial beats Great Southern Bancorp on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers. The company also offers commercial real estate, multi-family, land loans, construction, and commercial and industrial loans; fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans that are secured by one-to-four family residences; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans and lines of credit, student loans, overdraft line of credit, loans on savings accounts, and other consumer loans. In addition, it invests in mortgage-backed securities, securities issued by the U.S. Government and agencies, corporate securities, and other investments. Further, the company offers bankcard, trust and asset management services; and bank owned life insurance products. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Red Bank, New Jersey.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.