Contrasting Ottawa Bancorp (OTCMKTS:OTTW) & HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI)

HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) and Ottawa Bancorp (OTCMKTS:OTTW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ottawa Bancorp has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Ottawa Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HomeTrust Bancshares	18.53%	10.41%	1.16%
Ottawa Bancorp	2.75%	1.12%	0.13%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.2% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Ottawa Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ottawa Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ottawa Bancorp pays out 244.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Ottawa Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HomeTrust Bancshares	$200.77 million	2.93	$55.39 million	$3.16	10.63
Ottawa Bancorp	$16.45 million	2.12	$1.67 million	$0.18	80.17

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for HomeTrust Bancshares and Ottawa Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	1	2	0	2.67
Ottawa Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

HomeTrust Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $39.33, suggesting a potential upside of 17.13%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Ottawa Bancorp.

Summary

HomeTrust Bancshares beats Ottawa Bancorp on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company’s deposit products include savings, money market, noninterest-bearing, and interest-bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, business, and nonprofit organizations. Its loan portfolio comprises retail consumer loans, such as one-to-four-family real estate lending, home equity lines of credit, construction and land/lots, indirect auto finance, and consumer lending; and commercial loans that include commercial real estate, construction and development, and commercial and industrial loans. The company also provides small business administration loans, equipment finance leases, and municipal leases; and cash management and online/mobile banking services. In addition, it invests in debt securities issued by the United States government agencies and government-sponsored enterprises, municipal and corporate bonds, commercial paper, and certificates of deposit insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation. HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina.

About Ottawa Bancorp

Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for OSB Community Bank, a savings bank that provides various financial services to individual and corporate customers in Illinois. The company's deposit products include saving, checking, money market, and interest-bearing accounts, as well as certificate of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial, non-residential real estate, one-to-four family residential, multi-family residential, consumer direct, and purchased auto loans; business and construction loans; motor vehicle, home improvement, share, and personal unsecured loans, as well as home equity and small personal credit lines; mortgage loans; and student loans. The company also provides cash management solutions, such as remote deposit capture, automated clearing house/payroll direct deposit, and merchant services, as well as commercial leasing services. In addition, it offers notary, lamination, night depository, document faxing, money gift envelopes, safe deposit boxes, and coin counting, as well as debit and credit cards, and digital banking services. The company was formerly known as Ottawa Savings Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. in October 2016. Ottawa Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1871 and is based in Ottawa, Illinois.