Comparing Fifth District Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDSB) and Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR)

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) and Fifth District Bancorp (NASDAQ:FDSB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Sierra Bancorp has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fifth District Bancorp has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.4% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of Sierra Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Fifth District Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sierra Bancorp and Fifth District Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sierra Bancorp	$201.98 million	2.64	$42.33 million	$3.42	12.01
Fifth District Bancorp	$26.49 million	3.69	$4.09 million	$0.34	54.85

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Sierra Bancorp and Fifth District Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sierra Bancorp	0	3	2	0	2.40
Fifth District Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Sierra Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $38.67, indicating a potential downside of 5.87%. Given Sierra Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Sierra Bancorp is more favorable than Fifth District Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Sierra Bancorp and Fifth District Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sierra Bancorp	22.37%	12.38%	1.20%
Fifth District Bancorp	6.97%	1.27%	0.31%

Summary

Sierra Bancorp beats Fifth District Bancorp on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sierra Bancorp

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts. The company's loan products include agricultural, commercial, consumer, real estate, construction, and mortgage loans. It also offers automated teller machines; electronic point-of-sale payment alternatives; online and automated telephone banking services; and remote deposit capture and automated payroll services for business customers. Sierra Bancorp was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Porterville, California.

About Fifth District Bancorp

Fifth District Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Fifth District Savings Bank which provide all banking services. Fifth District Bancorp, Inc. is based in NEW ORLEANS.