Head-To-Head Analysis: AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC) and Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK)

Timberland Bancorp (NASDAQ:TSBK) and AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

65.5% of Timberland Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of AMB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Timberland Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 37.7% of AMB Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Timberland Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. AMB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Timberland Bancorp pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Timberland Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Timberland Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Timberland Bancorp has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMB Financial has a beta of 0.15, indicating that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Timberland Bancorp and AMB Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Timberland Bancorp	26.22%	11.67%	1.54%
AMB Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Timberland Bancorp and AMB Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Timberland Bancorp	$114.63 million	2.74	$29.16 million	$3.91	10.26
AMB Financial	$23.37 million	1.31	$3.42 million	N/A	N/A

Timberland Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than AMB Financial.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Timberland Bancorp and AMB Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Timberland Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
AMB Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Summary

Timberland Bancorp beats AMB Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Timberland Bancorp

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Timberland Bank that provides various community banking services in Washington. It offers various deposit products, including money market deposit, checking, and regular savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to four-family residential, multi-family, and commercial real estate loans; and construction lending products, such as custom and owner/builder, speculative one- to four-family, commercial, multi-family, land development, and land development. In addition, it offers consumer loans comprising home equity lines of credit and second mortgage loans, automobile loans, boat loans, motorcycle loans, recreational vehicle loans, savings account loans, and unsecured loans; and commercial business loans. Timberland Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Hoquiam, Washington.

About AMB Financial

AMB Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for American Community Bank of Indiana that provides financial services to customers in Indiana. The company provides savings, checking, health savings, individual retirement, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers business checking accounts, business debit and credit cards, and order business checks. In addition, the company offers mortgage loans, home equity loans, construction/lot loans, community loans, vehicle loans, and loan servicing; and commercial loans, commercial real estate loans, and SBA loans. Further, it provides merchant, remote deposit, wire services, fraud protection, and ACH origination; sweep services, zero balance accounts, lockbox services, vault services, and wealth management services; online, mobile, voice, and banking services; money order and e-statement services; cashier’s checks; and safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Saint John, Indiana.