Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) versus West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) Head-To-Head Contrast

West Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WTBA) and Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

West Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Kearny Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. West Bancorporation pays out 52.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kearny Financial pays out 93.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for West Bancorporation and Kearny Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Bancorporation	0	2	0	1	2.67
Kearny Financial	0	2	1	0	2.33

West Bancorporation presently has a consensus target price of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.54%. Kearny Financial has a consensus target price of $7.75, suggesting a potential upside of 19.88%. Given Kearny Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Kearny Financial is more favorable than West Bancorporation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares West Bancorporation and Kearny Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Bancorporation	$92.05 million	4.03	$24.05 million	$1.90	11.53
Kearny Financial	$343.53 million	1.22	$26.08 million	$0.47	13.76

Kearny Financial has higher revenue and earnings than West Bancorporation. West Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kearny Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

44.3% of West Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.0% of Kearny Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of West Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Kearny Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares West Bancorporation and Kearny 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%
Kearny Financial	8.57%	3.89%	0.38%

Volatility and Risk

West Bancorporation has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kearny Financial has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

West Bancorporation beats Kearny Financial on 9 of the 17 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 Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides various loans, such as multi-family and nonresidential real estate mortgage loans, commercial term loans and lines of credit, one- to four-family residential mortgage loans, and home equity loans and lines of credit; loans to individuals, builders, or developers for the construction of multi-family residential buildings or commercial real estate, or for the construction or renovation of one- to four-family residences; overdraft lines of credit; and personal loans. In addition, it engages in the investment activities. Kearny Financial Corp. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey.