Analyzing Suruga Bank (OTCMKTS:SUGBY) & Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC)

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and Suruga Bank (OTCMKTS:SUGBY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Suruga Bank”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Southern Bancorp	$229.40 million	2.85	$61.81 million	$6.02	9.71
Suruga Bank	$598.19 million	2.64	$133.17 million	$9.26	8.64

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

Dividends

Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Suruga Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Suruga Bank pays out 18.4% 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Southern Bancorp	19.80%	11.38%	1.17%
Suruga Bank	24.79%	8.96%	0.77%

Volatility and Risk

Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Suruga Bank has a beta of -0.09, meaning that its stock price is 109% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Great Southern Bancorp and Suruga Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Southern Bancorp	1	2	1	0	2.00
Suruga Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Great Southern Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $59.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.74%. Given Great Southern Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Great Southern Bancorp is more favorable than Suruga Bank.

Summary

Great Southern Bancorp beats Suruga Bank on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Suruga Bank

Suruga Bank Ltd. provides various banking and financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Japan. The company offers deposit products, such as time, ordinary, savings, foreign currency, and other deposits, as well as current and general accounts; card, housing, second house, startup, and business up term loans, as well as loans by purpose; credit and debit cards; overdrafts; and other financing products. It also provides investment trust, public bond, pension contribution, insurance, inheritance/trust, lottery, foreign currency, pay-easy, web direct, safe deposit box, external linkage, foreign remittance, fund management, e-combination, payment, nursing care/medical care/dispensing compensation receivable factoring, mortgage, and Internet and telephone banking services. In addition, the company offers staffing, money lending, guarantee, printing, leasing, and agency services. The company was incorporated in 1895 and is headquartered in Numazu, Japan.