Head to Head Contrast: Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) and WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC)

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) and Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WesBanco	0	3	2	0	2.40
Landmark Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

WesBanco presently has a consensus price target of $30.67, suggesting a potential upside of 10.47%. Given WesBanco’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WesBanco is more favorable than Landmark Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WesBanco	17.52%	6.54%	0.88%
Landmark Bancorp	15.70%	10.38%	0.79%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WesBanco and Landmark Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WesBanco	$831.96 million	1.98	$159.03 million	$2.40	11.57
Landmark Bancorp	$77.91 million	1.33	$12.24 million	$2.22	8.55

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

Dividends

WesBanco pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Landmark Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. WesBanco pays out 60.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Landmark Bancorp pays out 37.8% 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. WesBanco has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Landmark Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. WesBanco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

WesBanco has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Landmark Bancorp has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.7% of Landmark Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of WesBanco shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.5% of Landmark Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

WesBanco beats Landmark Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. that provides retail banking, corporate banking, personal and corporate trust, brokerage, mortgage banking, and insurance services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Community Banking, and Trust and Investment Services. It offers commercial demand, individual demand, and time deposit accounts; commercial, mortgage and individual installment loans; retail loans, such as residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and loans for other consumer purposes; installment loans to finance the purchase of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as home equity installment loans, unsecured home improvement loans, and revolving lines of credit; and various non-traditional offerings, such as insurance and securities brokerage services. The company also provides trust services; and various alternative investment products, including mutual funds and annuities. In addition, it acts as an agency that specializes in property, casualty, life, and title insurance, as well as benefit plan sales and administration to personal and commercial clients; provides broker dealer and discount brokerage services; holds investment securities and loans; and holds and leases commercial real estate properties, as well as acts as an investment adviser to a family of mutual funds. WesBanco, Inc. was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia.

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.