Head-To-Head Comparison: Wayne Savings Bancshares (OTCMKTS:WAYN) versus Kentucky First Federal Bancorp (NASDAQ:KFFB)

Wayne Savings Bancshares (OTCMKTS:WAYN) and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp (NASDAQ:KFFB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Wayne Savings Bancshares and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wayne Savings Bancshares	$38.11 million	1.40	$7.83 million	$3.21	7.56
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp	$7.29 million	3.67	$930,000.00	($0.08)	-41.25

Wayne Savings Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Kentucky First Federal Bancorp. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wayne Savings Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.1% of Wayne Savings Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.2% of Kentucky First Federal Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Wayne Savings Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Kentucky First Federal Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Wayne Savings Bancshares and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wayne Savings Bancshares	0	0	0	0	N/A
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Wayne Savings Bancshares and Kentucky First Federal Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wayne Savings Bancshares	17.74%	16.26%	1.03%
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp	-3.85%	-1.21%	-0.17%

Risk & Volatility

Wayne Savings Bancshares has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kentucky First Federal Bancorp has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Wayne Savings Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.1%. Wayne Savings Bancshares pays out 28.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp pays out -500.0% 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. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Wayne Savings Bancshares beats Kentucky First Federal Bancorp on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wayne Savings Bancshares

Wayne Savings Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Wayne Savings Community Bank that provides personal and business banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and other organizations. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and term certificate accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides residential mortgage, commercial, installment, residential and nonresidential real estate, commercial real estate, residential construction, multi-family real estate, land, commercial business, consumer, home, home equity, auto, recreational vehicle, personal, furniture and appliance, agriculture, and term loans, as well as lines of credit, government guaranteed programs, and standby letters of credit. In addition, the company offers retirement planning, investment advisory, insurance, and wealth management and trust services. Further, it provides overdraft protection, re-order check, remote deposit capture, merchant, sweep, online and mobile banking, and bill pay services, as well as debit, credit, and gift cards. The company was founded in 1899 and is based in Wooster, Ohio.

About Kentucky First Federal Bancorp

Kentucky First Federal Bancorp operates as the holding company for First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hazard, and Frankfort First Bancorp, Inc. that provide various banking products and services in Kentucky. It accepts deposit products include passbook savings and certificate accounts, checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises one-to four-family residential mortgage loans; construction loans; mortgage loans secured by multi-family property; nonresidential loans that are secured by commercial office buildings, churches, and properties used for other purposes; commercial non-mortgage loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity lines of credit, loans secured by savings deposits, automobile loans, and unsecured or personal loans. It also invests in mortgage-backed securities. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Hazard, Kentucky. Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is a subsidiary of First Federal MHC.