Contrasting Mid-Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSVB) & Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF)

Profitability

This table compares Mid-Southern Bancorp and Waterstone Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid-Southern Bancorp	9.43%	3.08%	0.45%
Waterstone Financial	9.23%	5.75%	0.86%

Dividends

Mid-Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waterstone Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Mid-Southern Bancorp pays out 60.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Waterstone Financial pays out 59.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Waterstone Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Mid-Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.17, indicating that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waterstone Financial has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mid-Southern Bancorp and Waterstone Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid-Southern Bancorp	$11.71 million	3.67	$1.46 million	$0.40	37.35
Waterstone Financial	$132.38 million	2.15	$18.69 million	$1.01	14.55

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.1% of Mid-Southern Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of Waterstone Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.2% of Mid-Southern Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of Waterstone Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Waterstone Financial beats Mid-Southern Bancorp on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mid-Southern Bancorp

Mid-Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mid-Southern Savings Bank, FSB that provides various banking products and services to individuals and business customers. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and term deposits. The company also offers loans secured by first mortgages on one- to four-family residences, including home equity loans and lines of credit; commercial and multifamily real estate loans; construction loans secured by single-family residences; commercial and multifamily real estate loans; land and lot loans; commercial business loans; consumer loans, including new and used manufactured homes, automobiles and truck, boats, and motorcycles and recreational vehicle loans; loans secured by savings deposits and other personal loans; and unsecured consumer loans. In addition, it holds and manages an investment securities portfolio. The company provides its products and services through its main office in Salem; and through its branch offices located in Mitchell and Orleans, Indiana, as well as through loan production offices located in New Albany, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Salem, Indiana.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts. It also provides transaction deposits, interest bearing transaction accounts, demand deposits, non-interest-bearing demand accounts, and time deposits; secured and unsecured lines; commercial real estate construction loans; term loans for working capital, inventory, and general corporate use; and personal term loans and investment services. The Mortgage Banking segment offers residential mortgage loans for the purpose of sale in the secondary market. It also invests in a portfolio of securities include mortgage-backed securities, government-sponsored and private-label enterprise bonds, collateralized mortgage and municipal obligations, and other debt securities. The company was formerly known as Wauwatosa Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Waterstone Financial, Inc. in August 2008. The company was founded in 1921 and is based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.