Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) versus West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Head-To-Head Survey

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) and Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) 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, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares West Bancorporation and Timberland Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Bancorporation	16.08%	14.59%	0.89%
Timberland Bancorp	26.17%	11.86%	1.55%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for West Bancorporation and Timberland Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Bancorporation	0	3	0	0	2.00
Timberland Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

West Bancorporation currently has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential downside of 6.03%. Given West Bancorporation’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe West Bancorporation is more favorable than Timberland Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares West Bancorporation and Timberland Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Bancorporation	$202.45 million	2.14	$32.56 million	$1.91	13.37
Timberland Bancorp	$114.63 million	2.69	$29.16 million	$3.86	10.13

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

Risk and Volatility

West Bancorporation has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Timberland Bancorp has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

West Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Timberland Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. West Bancorporation pays out 52.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Timberland Bancorp pays out 29.0% 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. Timberland Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.3% of West Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.5% of Timberland Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of West Bancorporation shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Timberland Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Timberland Bancorp beats West Bancorporation on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the financial holding company provides community banking and trust services to individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. It offers deposit services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit. The company also provides loan products comprising commercial real estate loans, construction and land development loans, commercial lines of credit, and commercial term loans; consumer loans, including loans extended to individuals for household, family, and other personal expenditures not secured by real estate; and 1-4 family residential mortgages and home equity loans. In addition, it offers online and mobile banking, treasury management services including cash management, client-generated automated clearing house transactions, remote deposit, and fraud protection services; merchant credit card processing and corporate credit cards; and administration of estates, conservatorships, personal trusts, and agency accounts. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa.

About Timberland Bancorp

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Timberland Bank that provides various community banking services in Washington. It offers various deposit products, including money market deposit, checking, and regular savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to four-family residential, multi-family, and commercial real estate loans; and construction lending products, such as custom and owner/builder, speculative one- to four-family, commercial, multi-family, land development, and land development. In addition, it offers consumer loans comprising home equity lines of credit and second mortgage loans, automobile loans, boat loans, motorcycle loans, recreational vehicle loans, savings account loans, and unsecured loans; and commercial business loans. Timberland Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Hoquiam, Washington.