Critical Review: Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) & Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA)

Ohio Valley Banc (NASDAQ:OVBC) and Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ohio Valley Banc 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
Ohio Valley Banc	$94.21 million	2.28	$15.60 million	$3.28	13.92
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Ohio Valley Banc has higher revenue and earnings than Chester Bancorp.

Dividends

Ohio Valley Banc pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Chester Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.8%. Ohio Valley Banc pays out 30.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ohio Valley Banc has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ohio Valley Banc and Chester Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ohio Valley Banc	0	0	1	0	3.00
Chester Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Ohio Valley Banc and Chester Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ohio Valley Banc	16.05%	9.38%	1.00%
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.1% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Ohio Valley Banc shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 38.8% of Chester Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ohio Valley Banc beats Chester Bancorp on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ohio Valley Banc

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Ohio Valley Bank Company that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Consumer Finance. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time, and money market accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts, demand deposits, NOW accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides various residential real estate loans, including one-to four-family residential mortgages; commercial loans for securing equipment, inventory, stock, commercial real estate, and rental property; and consumer loans secured by automobiles, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, and other personal property, as well as personal loans, unsecured credit card receivables, floor plan and student loans, and construction loans. In addition, it offers safe deposit box, wire transfer, credit card, home equity loans, and Internet banking services; and financial management online services, such as cash management and news updates related to repossession auctions, current rates, and general bank news. Further, the company provides automatic teller machines (ATMs), consumer finance, seasonal tax preparation, commercial property, and various liability insurance services, as well as trust and online-only consumer direct mortgage services. The company owns and operates ATMs, including off-site ATMs. It operates offices in Ohio and West Virginia. The company was founded in 1872 and is based in Gallipolis, Ohio.

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.