Critical Survey: Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) & Kentucky Bancshares (OTCMKTS:KTYB)

Kentucky Bancshares (OTCMKTS:KTYB) and Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kentucky Bancshares and Bridgewater Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kentucky Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bridgewater Bancshares	$106.78 million	3.55	$39.96 million	$1.05	13.17

Bridgewater Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Kentucky Bancshares.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Kentucky Bancshares and Bridgewater Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kentucky Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	0	3	0	3.00

Bridgewater Bancshares has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.92%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than Kentucky Bancshares.

Profitability

This table compares Kentucky Bancshares and Bridgewater Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kentucky Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bridgewater Bancshares	13.54%	9.02%	0.72%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.0% of Kentucky Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of Bridgewater Bancshares 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

Bridgewater Bancshares beats Kentucky Bancshares on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kentucky Bancshares

Kentucky Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Kentucky Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposit, safe deposits, interest and noninterest bearing deposits, and time deposits. The company also offers commercial, agricultural, and real estate loans to small-to-medium-sized industrial, service, and agricultural businesses; and residential mortgages, installments, and other loans to individual and other non-commercial customers. In addition, it provides credit cards and other consumer-oriented financial services; brokerage services, annuities, life and long-term care insurance, personal trust, and agency services; and Internet banking services, such as bill payment. The company has operations in Bourbon, Clark, Elliott, Fayette, Harrison, Jessamine, Madison, Rowan, Scott, Woodford, and other counties in Kentucky. Kentucky Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Paris, Kentucky.

About Bridgewater Bancshares

Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bridgewater Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial real estate investors, entrepreneurs, business clients, and individuals in the United States. The company provides savings and money market accounts, demand deposits, time and brokered deposits, and interest and noninterest bearing transaction, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers commercial loans to sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other business enterprises to finance working capital, capital investment, or for other business related purposes; paycheck protection program loans; construction and land development loans; 1-4 family mortgage loans; multifamily lending products; owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company online, mobile, and direct banking services. Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.