Head to Head Contrast: West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) versus AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC)

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) and AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Dividends

West Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. AMB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. West Bancorporation pays out 52.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for West Bancorporation and AMB Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Bancorporation	0	2	0	1	2.67
AMB Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

West Bancorporation currently has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.45%. Given West Bancorporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe West Bancorporation is more favorable than AMB Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

44.3% of West Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of AMB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of West Bancorporation shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 37.7% of AMB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

West Bancorporation has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMB Financial has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares West Bancorporation and AMB Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Bancorporation	$198.50 million	1.98	$24.05 million	$1.90	12.21
AMB Financial	$18.97 million	1.41	$2.19 million	N/A	N/A

West Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than AMB Financial.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Bancorporation	16.04%	13.40%	0.80%
AMB Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

West Bancorporation beats AMB Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About AMB Financial

AMB Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for American Community Bank of Indiana that provides financial services to customers in Indiana. The company provides savings, checking, health savings, individual retirement, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers business checking accounts, business debit and credit cards, and order business checks. In addition, the company offers mortgage loans, home equity loans, construction/lot loans, community loans, vehicle loans, and loan servicing; and commercial loans, commercial real estate loans, and SBA loans. Further, it provides merchant, remote deposit, wire services, fraud protection, and ACH origination; sweep services, zero balance accounts, lockbox services, vault services, and wealth management services; online, mobile, voice, and banking services; money order and e-statement services; cashier’s checks; and safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Saint John, Indiana.