Critical Contrast: Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) and NU (NYSE:NU)

Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) and NU (NYSE:NU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Dividends

Landmark Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. NU pays an annual dividend of $1.67 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.4%. Landmark Bancorp pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NU pays out 225.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Landmark Bancorp has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Landmark Bancorp and NU, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Landmark Bancorp	0	1	0	1	3.00
NU	1	5	10	0	2.56

NU has a consensus target price of $18.25, indicating a potential upside of 56.92%. Given NU’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe NU is more favorable than Landmark Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Landmark Bancorp	21.19%	12.68%	1.29%
NU	18.65%	31.59%	4.97%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Landmark Bancorp and NU”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Landmark Bancorp	$75.89 million	2.58	$18.77 million	$3.37	9.52
NU	$13.17 billion	4.29	$2.87 billion	$0.74	15.72

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

Risk and Volatility

Landmark Bancorp has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NU has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

25.7% of Landmark Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of NU shares are held by institutional investors. 9.8% of Landmark Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of NU shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

NU beats Landmark Bancorp on 11 of the 18 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 NU

Nu Holdings Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of digital banking services. The company was founded by David Vélez Osorno, Cristina Helena Zingaretti Junqueira, and Adam Edward Wible on February 26, 2016 and is headquartered in George Town, Cayman Islands.