West Shore Bank (OTCMKTS:WSSH) and Byline Bancorp (NYSE:BY) Critical Analysis

West Shore Bank (OTCMKTS:WSSH) and Byline Bancorp (NYSE:BY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares West Shore Bank and Byline Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Shore Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Byline Bancorp	19.03%	10.98%	1.30%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

67.7% of Byline Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 28.8% of Byline Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

West Shore Bank has a beta of 0.05, suggesting that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Byline Bancorp has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for West Shore Bank and Byline Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Shore Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
Byline Bancorp	0	2	3	0	2.60

Byline Bancorp has a consensus target price of $33.25, indicating a potential upside of 20.27%. Given Byline Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Byline Bancorp is more favorable than West Shore Bank.

Dividends

West Shore Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Byline Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Byline Bancorp pays out 14.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Byline Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares West Shore Bank and Byline Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Shore Bank	$36.87 million	1.03	$4.41 million	N/A	N/A
Byline Bancorp	$624.78 million	2.03	$120.76 million	$2.68	10.32

Byline Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than West Shore Bank.

Summary

Byline Bancorp beats West Shore Bank on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About West Shore Bank

West Shore Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for West Shore Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses. The company accepts checking, saving, money market, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include auto, recreational, personal term, commercial real estate, small business administration, municipal, business term, and home mortgage and equity loans; business lines of credit; and letters of credit. The company also offers ATM/debit, credit, and gift and travel cards; wealth planning process, investment management, trusts and estates, retirement planning, west shore investment services; savings bonds; and direct deposit, overdraft, safe deposit boxes, wire transfer, remote deposit capture, merchant card, ACH and wire, sweep accounts, positive pay, bill pay, and online and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1898 and is based in Ludington, Michigan.

About Byline Bancorp

Byline Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Byline Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and medium sized businesses, commercial real estate and financial sponsors, and consumers in the United States. It offers various retail deposit products, including non-interest-bearing accounts, money market demand accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, and time deposits; ATM and debit cards; and online, mobile, and text banking services, as well as commercial deposits. The company also provides term loans, revolving lines of credit, and construction financing services; senior secured financing solutions to private equity backed lower middle market companies; small business administration and united states department of agriculture loans; and treasury management products and services. In addition, it offers financing solutions for equipment vendors and their end users; syndication services; and investment, trust, and wealth management services that include fiduciary and executor services, financial planning solutions, investment advisory services, and private banking services for foundations and endowments, and high net worth individuals. The company was formerly known as Metropolitan Bank Group, Inc. and changed its name to Byline Bancorp, Inc. in 2015. Byline Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.