Critical Contrast: Ballston Spa Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BSPA) & Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF)

Ballston Spa Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BSPA) and Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Ballston Spa Bancorp and Franklin Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ballston Spa Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Franklin Financial Services	0	0	2	0	3.00

Franklin Financial Services has a consensus price target of $59.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.67%. Given Franklin Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Franklin Financial Services is more favorable than Ballston Spa Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Ballston Spa Bancorp and Franklin Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ballston Spa Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Franklin Financial Services	15.90%	13.06%	0.94%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ballston Spa Bancorp and Franklin Financial Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ballston Spa Bancorp	$36.16 million	1.51	$4.78 million	N/A	N/A
Franklin Financial Services	$133.55 million	1.90	$21.23 million	$4.74	11.89

Franklin Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Ballston Spa Bancorp.

Dividends

Ballston Spa Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Franklin Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Franklin Financial Services pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franklin Financial Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Franklin Financial Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Ballston Spa Bancorp has a beta of -0.18, suggesting that its stock price is 118% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Financial Services has a beta of -0.1, suggesting that its stock price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

2.4% of Ballston Spa Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.8% of Franklin Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Franklin Financial Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Franklin Financial Services beats Ballston Spa Bancorp on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ballston Spa Bancorp

Ballston Spa Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Ballston Spa National Bank that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, brokerage, and other financial services to corporate, municipal, and individual customers in the United States. It offers checking, money market, savings, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; loan products, such as mortgage and home construction, improvement, and equity loans, auto, boat, RV, personal, commercial, and small business loans, as well as lines of credit and government programs; and debits and credit cards. The company also provides personal investment services, which include annuities, college savings plans, mutual funds, and life and long term care insurance products; retirement plans; college planning services; investment and asset management; trusteeship; estate settlement; special needs and disability trusts; and wealth management services. In addition, the company offers treasury management services; and merchant and payment processing services, as well as online and mobile banking, and digital payments. The company was founded in 1838 and is based in Ballston Spa, New York.

About Franklin Financial Services

Franklin Financial Services Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Farmers and Merchants Trust Company of Chambersburg that provides commercial, retail banking, and trust services to businesses, individuals, governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Pennsylvania. It offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, money management, and time deposit accounts, as well as demand deposits. The company also provides commercial real estate, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, and residential mortgage loans, as well as installment and revolving loans; consumer loans comprising unsecured personal lines of credit and installment loans; and secured and unsecured commercial and industrial loans, including accounts receivable and inventory financing, and commercial equipment financing. In addition, it offers various investment and trust services comprising estate planning and administration, corporate and personal trust fund management, pension, and profit sharing and other employee benefit funds management services, and custodial services, as well as non-trust related investment services; sells mutual funds, annuities, and insurance products; and offers safe deposit, pension, and fiduciary services. Further, the company engages in non-bank investment activities, such as venture capital investments. The company was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.