Financial Survey: Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX) vs. Lake Shore Bancorp (NASDAQ:LSBK)

Lake Shore Bancorp (NASDAQ:LSBK) and Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (NYSE:BLX) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Lake Shore Bancorp and Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lake Shore Bancorp	20.74%	5.91%	1.15%
Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior	27.77%	13.77%	1.75%

Dividends

Lake Shore Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior pays an annual dividend of $2.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Lake Shore Bancorp pays out 31.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior pays out 45.4% 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. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Lake Shore Bancorp and Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lake Shore Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior	0	0	0	1	4.00

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lake Shore Bancorp and Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lake Shore Bancorp	$39.56 million	3.45	$7.27 million	$1.13	15.38
Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior	$329.77 million	6.28	$226.88 million	$6.06	9.18

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has higher revenue and earnings than Lake Shore Bancorp. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lake Shore Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.7% of Lake Shore Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.5% of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.4% of Lake Shore Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Lake Shore Bancorp has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior beats Lake Shore Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lake Shore Bancorp

Lake Shore Bancorp, Inc. operates as a savings and loan holding company for Lake Shore Servings Bank. It offers personal services such as checking, savings, lending, banking, debit card, e-services, and online banking; and business services including deposit products, commercial loans, and business e-statements. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Dunkirk, NY.

About Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A., a multinational bank, primarily engages in the financing of foreign trade in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates in two segments, Commercial and Treasury. It offers bilateral loans; structured loans including syndicated and clubbed, such as acquisition and pre-export financing, A/B loan financing, bridge loans, and liability management; and project financing. The company also provides letter of credit comprising import and export letters of credit, and credit discounting and financing, as well as usance payable at sight; stand-by services; bank guarantees, including first demand and local guarantees; import and export documentary collection; irrevocable reimbursement undertaking; and canal tolls. In addition, it offers liquidity and investment solutions, such as time deposits, DDA accounts, Yankee certificate of deposits, and EMTN private placement services, as well as supply chain finance services. The company primarily serves financial institutions, corporations, and sovereigns and state-owned entities. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A.was formerly known as Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. and changed its name to Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S. A. in June 2009. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama.