Reviewing NSTS Bancorp (NASDAQ:NSTS) and Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Great Southern Bancorp and NSTS Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Southern Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
NSTS Bancorp	1	0	0	0	1.00

Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $74.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.85%. Given Great Southern Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Great Southern Bancorp is more favorable than NSTS Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.7% of NSTS Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of NSTS Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and NSTS Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Southern Bancorp	$342.78 million	2.55	$70.97 million	$6.02	13.34
NSTS Bancorp	$13.27 million	5.57	-$390,000.00	($0.01)	-1,408.00

Great Southern Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than NSTS Bancorp. NSTS Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Great Southern Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NSTS Bancorp has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and NSTS Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Southern Bancorp	20.72%	10.83%	1.22%
NSTS Bancorp	-0.31%	-0.05%	-0.02%

Summary

Great Southern Bancorp beats NSTS Bancorp on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

About NSTS Bancorp

NSTS Bancorp, Inc. operates as a savings and loan holding company for North Shore Trust and Savings that provides banking products and services in Illinois. The company offers interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and time deposit accounts; and one- to four-family residential mortgage, multi-family and commercial real estate mortgage, construction, home equity, and consumer loans. It operates through full-service banking offices in Lake County, Illinois; and one loan production office in Chicago. The company was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois.