Head-To-Head Review: Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) versus Lake Shore Bancorp (NASDAQ:LSBK)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Landmark Bancorp and Lake Shore Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Landmark Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Lake Shore Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

25.7% of Landmark Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.7% of Lake Shore Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Landmark Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Lake Shore Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Landmark Bancorp has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lake Shore Bancorp has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Landmark Bancorp	19.67%	12.22%	1.19%
Lake Shore Bancorp	20.23%	6.30%	1.11%

Dividends

Landmark Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Lake Shore Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Landmark Bancorp pays out 26.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lake Shore Bancorp pays out 30.5% 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. 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Landmark Bancorp and Lake Shore Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Landmark Bancorp	$95.97 million	1.96	$18.77 million	$3.12	9.87
Lake Shore Bancorp	$39.56 million	3.41	$7.27 million	$1.18	14.53

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

Summary

Landmark Bancorp beats Lake Shore Bancorp on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Landmark Bancorp

Landmark Bancorp, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Landmark National Bank that provides various financial and banking services to its local communities. It offers non-interest bearing demand, money market, checking, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to-four family residential real estate, construction and land, commercial real estate, commercial, paycheck protection program, municipal, and agriculture loans; and consumer and other loans, such as automobile, boat, and home improvement and home equity loans, as well as insurance, and mobile and online banking services. In addition, the company invests in certain investment and mortgage-related securities. It operates in the eastern, central, southeast, and southwest Kansas. The company was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas.

About Lake Shore Bancorp

Lake Shore Bancorp, Inc. operates as a savings and loan holding company for Lake Shore Servings Bank. It offers personal services such as checking, savings, lending, banking, debit card, e-services, and online banking; and business services including deposit products, commercial loans, and business e-statements. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Dunkirk, NY.