Head-To-Head Comparison: Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) vs. Ames National (NASDAQ:ATLO)

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) and Ames National (NASDAQ:ATLO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.5% of Ames National shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Ames National shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Eagle Bancorp Montana and Ames National, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp Montana	0	3	1	0	2.25
Ames National	0	2	1	0	2.33

Eagle Bancorp Montana currently has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.58%. Ames National has a consensus target price of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.23%. Given Ames National’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ames National is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp Montana.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Ames National”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp Montana	$127.08 million	1.44	$14.84 million	$1.98	11.57
Ames National	$98.26 million	2.66	$19.03 million	$2.42	12.17

Ames National has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Eagle Bancorp Montana. Eagle Bancorp Montana is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ames National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp Montana pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ames National pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Eagle Bancorp Montana pays out 29.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ames National pays out 39.7% 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and Ames National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp Montana	12.16%	8.29%	0.74%
Ames National	21.63%	10.65%	1.02%

Risk & Volatility

Eagle Bancorp Montana has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ames National has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ames National beats Eagle Bancorp Montana on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, such as residential mortgages and construction of residential properties; commercial real estate loans, including multi-family dwellings, nonresidential property, commercial construction and development, and farmland loans; and second mortgage/home equity loans. In addition, it offers consumer loans, such as loans secured by collateral other than real estate, such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, and boats; personal loans and lines of credit; commercial business loans consisting of business loans and lines of credit on a secured and unsecured basis; construction loans; agricultural loans; and mortgage loan services. The company operates full-service branches and automated teller machines. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Helena, Montana.

About Ames National

Ames National Corporation operates as a multi-bank holding company that provides banking products and services primarily in Boone, Clarke, Hancock, Marshall, Polk, Story, and Union counties in central, north central, and south-central Iowa. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts; and time deposits, such as money market accounts and certificates of deposit. It also provides loans, such as short-term and medium-term commercial and agricultural real estate, residential real estate loans, equipment, vehicle, and home improvement loans; consumer loans to finance consumer purchases, such as automobiles, trucks, recreational vehicles, household furnishings, boats, personal loans, and lines of credit; agricultural and business operating loans and lines of credit; and originates mortgage loans for sale into the secondary market. In addition, the company offers cash management, merchant credit card processing, safe deposit box, wire transfer, direct deposit, and automated/video teller machine access services; and automatic drafts for various accounts, as well as wealth management services. Further, it provides farm management, investment, and custodial services for individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations; and online, mobile, and private banking services. Ames National Corporation was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in Ames, Iowa.