First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) versus FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) Head to Head Review

FS Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBW) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Dividends

FS Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. FS Bancorp pays out 27.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 50.7% 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. FS Bancorp has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

63.9% of FS Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by institutional investors. 12.7% of FS Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of First Hawaiian shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares FS Bancorp and First Hawaiian”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FS Bancorp	$206.39 million	1.54	$35.02 million	$4.10	10.31
First Hawaiian	$1.17 billion	2.85	$230.13 million	$2.05	13.12

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

Volatility & Risk

FS Bancorp has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares FS Bancorp and First Hawaiian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FS Bancorp	15.10%	10.84%	1.04%
First Hawaiian	22.60%	9.68%	1.08%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for FS Bancorp and First Hawaiian, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FS Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
First Hawaiian	3	7	0	0	1.70

FS Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $41.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.98%. First Hawaiian has a consensus target price of $27.64, indicating a potential upside of 2.80%. Given First Hawaiian’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than FS Bancorp.

Summary

First Hawaiian beats FS Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FS Bancorp

FS Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington that provides banking and financial services to local families, local and regional businesses, and industry niches. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Consumer Banking; and Home Lending. It offers various deposit instruments, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company provides one-to-four-family residential first mortgages, second mortgage/home equity loan products, non-mortgage commercial business loans, commercial real estate loans, and construction and development loans, as well as consumer loans, which primarily include personal lines of credit, credit cards, automobile, direct home improvement, loans on deposit, and recreational loans. It operates full bank service branches and home loan production offices in suburban communities in the greater Puget Sound area, including Snohomish, King, Pierce, Jefferson, Kitsap, Clallam, Grays Harbor, and Thurston counties; and a loan production office in the market area of the Tri-Cities. FS Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

About First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and construction lending, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers wealth management, personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, investment management, retirement planning, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.