Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) and Sound Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:SFBC) Head to Head Survey

Sound Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:SFBC) and Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sound Financial Bancorp and Landmark Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sound Financial Bancorp	$61.52 million	1.92	$7.16 million	$3.36	13.68
Landmark Bancorp	$95.97 million	2.05	$18.77 million	$3.37	9.57

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

Profitability

This table compares Sound Financial Bancorp and Landmark Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sound Financial Bancorp	13.88%	7.82%	0.79%
Landmark Bancorp	21.19%	12.73%	1.29%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Sound Financial Bancorp and Landmark Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sound Financial Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Landmark Bancorp	0	1	0	1	3.00

Volatility & Risk

Sound Financial Bancorp has a beta of 0.05, indicating that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Landmark Bancorp has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

68.8% of Sound Financial Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.7% of Landmark Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 12.3% of Sound Financial Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of Landmark Bancorp shares are held by 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.

Dividends

Sound Financial Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Landmark Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Sound Financial Bancorp pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Landmark Bancorp pays out 24.9% 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. Sound Financial Bancorp has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Landmark Bancorp has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Landmark Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Landmark Bancorp beats Sound Financial Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sound Financial Bancorp

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It operates Sound Community Bank, which provides banking services to individuals, families, and businesses in the Puget Sound region. The bank offers deposit accounts, including checking and savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its lending activities include residential and commercial real estate loans, construction financing, and other loans for consumers and businesses. Customers can also access banking services through digital channels.

About Landmark Bancorp

Landmark Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company based in Manhattan, Kansas, whose subsidiary, Landmark National Bank, provides community banking services to individuals and businesses. The bank offers deposit accounts and lending services, including commercial, residential mortgage, consumer and agricultural loans. It also provides banking access through digital channels and a network of locations in Kansas. Landmark Bancorp focuses on serving Kansas communities with local banking and financial services.