Head-To-Head Analysis: Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF) and Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI)

Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF) and Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Dividends

Malaga Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Malaga Financial pays out 44.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Glacier Bancorp pays out 61.7% 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. Malaga Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Malaga Financial has a beta of 0.08, suggesting that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Malaga Financial and Glacier Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Malaga Financial	N/A	N/A	$21.55 million	$2.24	9.71
Glacier Bancorp	$1.44 billion	4.52	$239.03 million	$2.14	23.34

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

Profitability

This table compares Malaga Financial and Glacier Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Malaga Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A
Glacier Bancorp	17.60%	7.19%	0.92%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.2% of Malaga Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Malaga Financial and Glacier Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Malaga Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Glacier Bancorp	1	3	4	0	2.38

Glacier Bancorp has a consensus target price of $55.17, indicating a potential upside of 10.46%. Given Glacier Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Glacier Bancorp is more favorable than Malaga Financial.

Summary

Glacier Bancorp beats Malaga Financial on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Malaga Financial

Malaga Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Malaga Bank that provides various community banking products and services to personal and business customers. It offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market accounts, certificates of deposits, business banking, consumer, and demand deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate, single and multi-family residential mortgage, consumer, 14-unit investment property, construction, personal, and business loans; home equity lines of credit; and certificates of deposit. In addition, it offers coupon redemption, direct deposit, overdraft lines of credit, telephone transfers, U.S. savings bond redemption, and wire transfer services; and ATM and VISA debit cards, bank by mail, medallion signature guarantee, night depository, notary, safe deposit boxes, and trust deed note collection services. Further, the company provides online banking services, including bill payer, e-statements, and mobile banking services. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, California.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot acquisition loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; paycheck protection program loans; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Further, the company provides mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It has 224 locations, including 188 branches and 36 loan or administration offices in 75 counties within 8 states comprising Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.