Contrasting Fifth District Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDSB) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Fifth District Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDSB) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 8.6% of Fifth District Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Simmons First National shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Fifth District Bancorp has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Fifth District Bancorp and Simmons First National”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fifth District Bancorp	$26.49 million	3.00	$4.09 million	$0.87	17.39
Simmons First National	$1.43 billion	2.17	-$397.55 million	($2.56)	-8.34

Fifth District Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Simmons First National. Simmons First National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fifth District Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Fifth District Bancorp and Simmons First National, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fifth District Bancorp	1	0	0	0	1.00
Simmons First National	0	5	2	2	2.67

Simmons First National has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.09%. Given Simmons First National’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Simmons First National is more favorable than Fifth District Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Fifth District Bancorp and Simmons First National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fifth District Bancorp	16.35%	3.37%	0.82%
Simmons First National	-25.44%	7.81%	1.07%

Summary

Simmons First National beats Fifth District Bancorp on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fifth District Bancorp

Fifth District Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Fifth District Savings Bank which provide all banking services. Fifth District Bancorp, Inc. is based in NEW ORLEANS.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services. It also provides ATM services; Internet and mobile banking platforms; overdraft facilities; and safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.