Analyzing Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) & Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA)

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) and Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Chester Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp Montana	$127.08 million	1.46	$14.84 million	$1.98	11.72
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Eagle Bancorp Montana has higher revenue and earnings than Chester Bancorp.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Eagle Bancorp Montana and Chester Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp Montana	0	3	0	1	2.50
Chester Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Eagle Bancorp Montana presently has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.29%. Given Eagle Bancorp Montana’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Eagle Bancorp Montana is more favorable than Chester Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Chester Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp Montana	12.16%	8.29%	0.74%
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Eagle Bancorp Montana has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chester Bancorp has a beta of -0.12, meaning that its stock price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 38.8% of Chester Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp Montana pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Chester Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.8%. Eagle Bancorp Montana pays out 29.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Bancorp Montana has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Summary

Eagle Bancorp Montana beats Chester Bancorp on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, such as residential mortgages and construction of residential properties; commercial real estate loans, including multi-family dwellings, nonresidential property, commercial construction and development, and farmland loans; and second mortgage/home equity loans. In addition, it offers consumer loans, such as loans secured by collateral other than real estate, such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, and boats; personal loans and lines of credit; commercial business loans consisting of business loans and lines of credit on a secured and unsecured basis; construction loans; agricultural loans; and mortgage loan services. The company operates full-service branches and automated teller machines. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Helena, Montana.

About Chester Bancorp

Chester Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Chester National Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in Chester, Illinois. It offers checking accounts, such as regular checking, student checking, golden checking, and club checking accounts; savings accounts, including statement savings, Christmas club, and money market accounts; and certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides loans comprising mortgage, construction, lot, home equity, consumer, and business loans; and reorder check services. It operates two full service offices in Sparta, Illinois; and Perryville, Missouri. Chester Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Chester, Illinois.