Catalyst Bancorp (NASDAQ:CLST – Get Free Report) and Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Catalyst Bancorp and Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Catalyst Bancorp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Farmers & Merchants Bancorp | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential downside of 19.79%. Given Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Farmers & Merchants Bancorp is more favorable than Catalyst Bancorp.
Volatility & Risk
Profitability
This table compares Catalyst Bancorp and Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Catalyst Bancorp | N/A | -4.12% | -1.20% |
| Farmers & Merchants Bancorp | 13.16% | 7.16% | 0.70% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
33.1% of Catalyst Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Catalyst Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Catalyst Bancorp and Farmers & Merchants Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Catalyst Bancorp | $5.42 million | 9.58 | $600,000.00 | ($0.82) | -14.57 |
| Farmers & Merchants Bancorp | $96.56 million | 4.24 | $22.79 million | $1.70 | 17.60 |
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Catalyst Bancorp. Catalyst Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp beats Catalyst Bancorp on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Catalyst Bancorp
Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Catalyst Bank that provides various banking services to individuals and businesses in Louisiana. The company accepts various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand and NOW accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also offers single family residential first mortgage loans, commercial real estate mortgage loans, multi-family residential mortgage loans, commercial and industrial loans, construction and land loans, consumer loans, and other loans. In addition, the company invests in various types of securities comprising mortgage-backed securities, the U.S. treasury obligations, securities of various federal agencies and of state and municipal governments, certificates of deposit at federally insured banks and savings institutions, and federal funds. Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Opelousas, Louisiana.
About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Farmers & Merchants State Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and small businesses in Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; certificates of deposit; and custodial services for individual retirement and health savings accounts. It also provides commercial, agricultural, and residential mortgage, as well as consumer lending products; loans for farmland, farm equipment, and livestock; operating loans for seeds, fertilizers, and feeds; home improvement loans; and loans for autos, trucks, recreational vehicles, and motorcycles. In addition, the company offers commercial real estate loans, such as lines of credit and machinery purchase loans. Further, it provides automated teller machine or interactive teller machine services; and online and mobile banking, bill-pay, on-line statement opportunities, and remote deposit capture or electronic deposit processing. Additionally, the company offers electronic transaction origination, such as wire and automated clearing house file transmittal services. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Archbold, Ohio.
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