Critical Review: Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB) versus WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS)

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD (OTCMKTS:GOVB) and WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. WSFS Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WSFS Financial pays out 14.0% 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. WSFS Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. WSFS Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and WSFS Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	$9.72 million	1.89	$730,000.00	$0.72	24.31
WSFS Financial	$1.40 billion	2.20	$263.67 million	$4.85	11.67

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

Profitability

This table compares Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and WSFS Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	7.54%	N/A	N/A
WSFS Financial	20.44%	10.60%	1.36%

Risk & Volatility

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WSFS Financial has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

21.6% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of WSFS Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of WSFS Financial shares are owned 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD and WSFS Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD	0	0	0	0	0.00
WSFS Financial	0	3	4	0	2.57

WSFS Financial has a consensus target price of $65.40, indicating a potential upside of 15.51%. Given WSFS Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe WSFS Financial is more favorable than Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD.

Summary

WSFS Financial beats Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gouverneur Bancorp Inc./MD

Gouverneur Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Gouverneur Savings and Loan Association that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in New York. It accepts passbook savings, NOW, money market deposit, and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include mortgage loans, one- to four-family residential loans, commercial real estate loans, and multi-family residential real estate loans, residential and commercial construction loans, commercial land loans, home equity loans, lines of credit, commercial loans, automobiles, motorcycles, campers, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as personal secured and unsecured loans. It also invests in municipal bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Government agencies and government-sponsored obligations, and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company offers online, mobile, bill pay, and telephone banking; electronic or paper statements; and ATM, debit cards, direct deposits, mobile remote deposit capture, automatic payments and transfers, bank checks, wire transfers, and safe deposit box services. It serves primarily the St. Lawrence County, and Jefferson and Lewis counties in New York State. The company was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Gouverneur, New York.

About WSFS Financial

WSFS Financial Corporation operates as the savings and loan holding company for the Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB that provides various banking services in the United States. It operates through three segments: WSFS Bank, Cash Connect, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including savings accounts, demand deposits, interest-bearing demand deposits, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as accepts jumbo certificates of deposit from individuals, businesses, and municipalities. The company also provides a range of loans, which comprise fixed and adjustable rate residential loans; commercial mortgage and commercial loans; commercial construction loans; commercial loans for working capital, financing equipment and real estate acquisitions, business expansion and other business purposes; and consumer credit products, such as home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans, unsecured lines of credit, and other secured and unsecured personal installment loans. In addition, it offers insurance products; planning and advisory services, investment management, trust services, and credit and deposit products to individual, corporate and institutional clients; retail securities and insurance brokerage services; mortgage and title services; residential mortgage and refinancing solutions; and leases small equipment and fixed assets, as well as provides financial planning, customized investment strategies, brokerage products, fiduciary, and wealth management services. Further, the company provides ATM vault cash, smart safe, and other cash logistics services; and online reporting and ATM cash management, predictive cash ordering and reconcilement services, armored carrier management, loss protection, and deposit safe cash logistics services, as well as trustee, agency, bankruptcy administration, custodial and commercial domicile services. The company was founded in 1832 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.