Comparing Sturgis Bancorp (OTCMKTS:STBI) & Riverview Bancorp (NASDAQ:RVSB)

Riverview Bancorp (NASDAQ:RVSB) and Sturgis Bancorp (OTCMKTS:STBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

69.6% of Riverview Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Riverview Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.0% of Sturgis Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Riverview Bancorp and Sturgis Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Riverview Bancorp	1	1	1	0	2.00
Sturgis Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Riverview Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.89%. Given Riverview Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Riverview Bancorp is more favorable than Sturgis Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Riverview Bancorp and Sturgis Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Riverview Bancorp	$73.22 million	1.43	$4.90 million	$0.22	22.91
Sturgis Bancorp	$56.82 million	0.79	$2.84 million	$3.43	6.04

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

Volatility & Risk

Riverview Bancorp has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sturgis Bancorp has a beta of 0.13, indicating that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Riverview Bancorp and Sturgis Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Riverview Bancorp	6.30%	2.92%	0.31%
Sturgis Bancorp	12.73%	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Riverview Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Sturgis Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Riverview Bancorp pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sturgis Bancorp pays out 19.8% 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. Sturgis Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Riverview Bancorp beats Sturgis Bancorp on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Riverview Bancorp

Riverview Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Riverview Bank that provides commercial banking services to small and medium size businesses, professionals, and wealth building individuals. It offers a range of deposit products, including demand deposits, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement savings plans. The company also provides commercial business, commercial and residential real estate, multi-family real estate, land, real estate construction, and one-to-four family mortgage loans; other consumer loans, such as automobile, boat, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, savings account, and unsecured loans; and home equity lines of credit. In addition, it is involved in the provision of mortgage brokerage and mortgage loan servicing activities, as well as offers asset management services comprising trust, estate planning, and investment management. The company operates in Camas, Washougal, Stevenson, White Salmon, Battle Ground, Goldendale, Ridgefield, and Vancouver, Washington, as well as Portland, Gresham, Tualatin, and Aumsville, Oregon. Riverview Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is based in Vancouver, Washington.

About Sturgis Bancorp

Sturgis Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Sturgis Bank & Trust Company that provides banking products and services in Michigan, the United States. The company offers checking, savings and health savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also provides mortgage, automobile, savings secured, personal, home equity, equipment and machinery, government supported, and commercial real estate loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and business lines of credit; and credit cards. In addition, the company offers private banking, cashier checks, wire transfers, foreign drafts and foreign currency, overdraft protection, night depository, and notary services, as well as safe deposit boxes and residential mortgages. Further, it provides direct deposit, remote deposit capture, Visa check card, and checks reorder services; and investment and financial-advisory services, as well as commercial and consumer insurance and title insurance products. Additionally, the company offers estate and asset management services, such as estate settlements, trust administration, record keeping, investment management, and custody services; cash and treasury management; and online and mobile banking, bill pay, and mobile wallet services. It operates through 14 bank facilities and 4 full service standalone ATMs located in 12 communities in Michigan. Sturgis Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Sturgis, Michigan.