Blackhawk Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BHWB) and West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Critical Review

Blackhawk Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BHWB) and West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Blackhawk Bancorp and West Bancorporation, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blackhawk Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
West Bancorporation	0	3	1	0	2.25

West Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $24.75, indicating a potential upside of 3.38%. Given West Bancorporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe West Bancorporation is more favorable than Blackhawk Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Blackhawk Bancorp and West Bancorporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blackhawk Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Bancorporation	17.30%	14.88%	0.95%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.3% of West Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 26.8% of Blackhawk Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of West Bancorporation shares are held 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Blackhawk Bancorp and West Bancorporation”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blackhawk Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Bancorporation	$202.45 million	2.01	$32.56 million	$2.06	11.62

West Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than Blackhawk Bancorp.

Summary

West Bancorporation beats Blackhawk Bancorp on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Blackhawk Bancorp

Blackhawk Bancorp, Inc., a financial holding company, provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company offers personal banking products and services, including checking, savings, health savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; personal, auto, student, and home improvement and equity loans; and lines of credit and credit cards. It also provides business banking products and services, such as business checking, business interest checking, business sweep, small business checking, business NOW, health savings, and money market accounts; commercial, development, term, equipment/fixed asset, and small business administration loans; lines and letters of credit; receivables financing; and corporate credit cards, as well as treasury management solutions. In addition, the company offers payments and transfer, mortgages lending, financial planning, wealth management, security brokerage, investment management, commercial banking, and online and mobile banking services, as well as installment loans. It serves individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers through its 11 full-services banking centers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin.

About West Bancorporation

West Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the financial holding company provides community banking and trust services to individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. It offers deposit services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit. The company also provides loan products comprising commercial real estate loans, construction and land development loans, commercial lines of credit, and commercial term loans; consumer loans, including loans extended to individuals for household, family, and other personal expenditures not secured by real estate; and 1-4 family residential mortgages and home equity loans. In addition, it offers online and mobile banking, treasury management services including cash management, client-generated automated clearing house transactions, remote deposit, and fraud protection services; merchant credit card processing and corporate credit cards; and administration of estates, conservatorships, personal trusts, and agency accounts. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa.