Lake Shore Bancorp (NASDAQ:LSBK) vs. Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Head to Head Survey

Lake Shore Bancorp (NASDAQ:LSBK) and Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Lake Shore Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Lake Shore Bancorp pays out 34.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern Missouri Bancorp pays out 17.3% 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 increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Lake Shore Bancorp has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern Missouri Bancorp has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lake Shore Bancorp and Southern Missouri Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lake Shore Bancorp	18.38%	6.26%	1.00%
Southern Missouri Bancorp	20.80%	11.92%	1.30%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Lake Shore Bancorp and Southern Missouri Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lake Shore Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Southern Missouri Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

Southern Missouri Bancorp has a consensus price target of $68.33, indicating a potential upside of 1.94%. Given Southern Missouri Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Southern Missouri Bancorp is more favorable than Lake Shore Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

8.8% of Lake Shore Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of Southern Missouri Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Lake Shore Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.8% of Southern Missouri 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lake Shore Bancorp and Southern Missouri Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lake Shore Bancorp	$39.56 million	3.10	$7.27 million	$1.06	14.75
Southern Missouri Bancorp	$305.35 million	2.44	$58.58 million	$5.78	11.60

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

Summary

Southern Missouri Bancorp beats Lake Shore Bancorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lake Shore Bancorp

Lake Shore Bancorp, Inc. operates as a savings and loan holding company for Lake Shore Servings Bank. It offers personal services such as checking, savings, lending, banking, debit card, e-services, and online banking; and business services including deposit products, commercial loans, and business e-statements. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Dunkirk, NY.

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.