Financial Analysis: Suruga Bank (OTCMKTS:SUGBY) versus LifeStore Financial Group (OTCMKTS:LSFG)

Dividends

Suruga Bank pays an annual dividend of $2.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. LifeStore Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Suruga Bank pays out 22.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Suruga Bank and LifeStore Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Suruga Bank	24.79%	8.90%	0.77%
LifeStore Financial Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Suruga Bank and LifeStore Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Suruga Bank	$598.19 million	2.64	$133.17 million	$9.26	8.64
LifeStore Financial Group	$33.78 million	N/A	$5.56 million	N/A	N/A

Suruga Bank has higher revenue and earnings than LifeStore Financial Group.

Risk and Volatility

Suruga Bank has a beta of -0.07, meaning that its stock price is 107% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LifeStore Financial Group has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Suruga Bank beats LifeStore Financial Group on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Suruga Bank

Suruga Bank Ltd. provides various banking and financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Japan. The company offers deposit products, such as time, ordinary, savings, foreign currency, and other deposits, as well as current and general accounts; card, housing, second house, startup, and business up term loans, as well as loans by purpose; credit and debit cards; overdrafts; and other financing products. It also provides investment trust, public bond, pension contribution, insurance, inheritance/trust, lottery, foreign currency, pay-easy, web direct, safe deposit box, external linkage, foreign remittance, fund management, e-combination, payment, nursing care/medical care/dispensing compensation receivable factoring, mortgage, and Internet and telephone banking services. In addition, the company offers staffing, money lending, guarantee, printing, leasing, and agency services. The company was incorporated in 1895 and is headquartered in Numazu, Japan.

About LifeStore Financial Group

LifeStore Financial Group, Inc. operates as a federally chartered thrift holding company for LifeStore Bank that provides personal and business banking products and services in North Carolina. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; mortgage loans, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate loans, commercial construction loans, investment property loans, equipment loans, working capital loans/lines of credit, and small business administration loans; and credit cards. It also provides insurance agency products and services; investment and cash management services; and online and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as AF Financial Group and changed its name to LifeStore Financial Group, Inc. in September 2009. LifeStore Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in West Jefferson, North Carolina. Lifestore Financial Group, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of AsheCo MHC, Inc.