Comparing Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) and Central Plains Bancshares (NASDAQ:CPBI)

Central Plains Bancshares (NASDAQ:CPBI) and Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Central Plains Bancshares and Bank OZK, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Central Plains Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00
Bank OZK	2	6	3	0	2.09

Bank OZK has a consensus target price of $56.88, indicating a potential upside of 12.78%. Given Bank OZK’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank OZK is more favorable than Central Plains Bancshares.

Risk & Volatility

Central Plains Bancshares has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank OZK has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.3% of Central Plains Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Bank OZK shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.6% of Central Plains Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Bank OZK shares are owned 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Central Plains Bancshares and Bank OZK”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Central Plains Bancshares	$30.33 million	2.91	$4.00 million	$1.18	17.91
Bank OZK	$2.81 billion	2.01	$715.48 million	$6.05	8.34

Bank OZK has higher revenue and earnings than Central Plains Bancshares. Bank OZK is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Central Plains Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Central Plains Bancshares and Bank OZK’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Central Plains Bancshares	14.33%	5.14%	0.83%
Bank OZK	24.95%	11.87%	1.67%

Summary

Bank OZK beats Central Plains Bancshares on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Central Plains Bancshares

Central Plains Bancshares, Inc. focuses on providing various banking products and services to retail customers, and small and medium-sized commercial customers in Nebraska, the United States. It offers checking accounts, savings accounts, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company also provides one- to four-family residential mortgage loans secured by properties, as well as commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, multi-family residential real estate loans, construction and land development loans, agricultural real estate and non-real estate loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it offers electronic banking services, including mobile banking, on-line banking and bill pay, and electronic funds transfer. The company was incorporated in 2023 and is based in Grand Island, Nebraska.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits. It also provides trust and wealth services, such as personal trusts, custodial accounts, investment management accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as corporate trust services, including trustee, paying agent and registered transfer agent services, and other related services. In addition, the company offers treasury management services comprising automated clearing house, wire transfer, transaction reporting, wholesale lockbox, remote deposit capture, automated credit line transfer, reconciliation, positive pay, commercial card, and other services, as well as zero balance and investment sweep accounts. Further, it provides real estate, consumer, small business, indirect recreational vehicle and marine, equipment, agricultural, commercial and industrial, government guaranteed, lines of credit, homebuilder, and affordable housing loans; lender and structured, business aviation, and subscription financing services; and mortgage and other lending products. Additionally, the company offers ATMs; telephone, online, and mobile banking services; credit and debit cards; safe deposit boxes; and other products and services. The company was formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks and changed its name to Bank OZK in July 2018. Bank OZK was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.