Comparing Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC)

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Great Southern Bancorp and Horizon Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Southern Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
Horizon Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33

Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $64.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.53%. Horizon Bancorp has a consensus target price of $18.67, suggesting a potential upside of 18.97%. Given Horizon Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Horizon Bancorp is more favorable than Great Southern Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.5% of Horizon Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 27.6% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Horizon Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horizon Bancorp has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Horizon Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Southern Bancorp	$219.71 million	3.03	$61.81 million	$5.26	10.91
Horizon Bancorp	$187.50 million	3.66	$35.43 million	$0.80	19.61

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

Profitability

This table compares Great Southern Bancorp and Horizon Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Southern Bancorp	17.40%	10.62%	1.04%
Horizon Bancorp	9.86%	8.48%	0.79%

Dividends

Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Horizon Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 30.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Horizon Bancorp pays out 80.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

About Horizon Bancorp

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Horizon Bank that engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. The company offers checking, saving, money market, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, and time deposits, as well as non-interest- and interest-bearing demand deposits. It also provides commercial, residential real estate, mortgage, home equity, auto, personal, business, agricultural, and SBA loans, as well as credit cards. In addition, the company offers corporate and individual trust and agency, investment management, and real estate investment trust services; debit cards; treasury management; online and mobile banking; wealth, retirement, and estate and trust services; and sells various insurance products. It operates through full-service offices in northern and central Indiana and southern and central Michigan. Horizon Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Michigan City, Indiana.