Financial Survey: Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) versus Bank of South Carolina (NASDAQ:BKSC)

Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) and Bank of South Carolina (NASDAQ:BKSC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and Bank of South Carolina”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hanover Bancorp	$62.58 million	2.28	$15.16 million	$1.65	12.12
Bank of South Carolina	$21.16 million	3.49	$5.49 million	$1.04	13.03

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

Dividends

Hanover Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Bank of South Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Hanover Bancorp pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of South Carolina pays out 73.1% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Hanover Bancorp and Bank of South Carolina, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hanover Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Bank of South Carolina	0	0	0	0	N/A

Hanover Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.06%. Given Hanover Bancorp’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Hanover Bancorp is more favorable than Bank of South Carolina.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.0% of Hanover Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Bank of South Carolina shares are held by institutional investors. 24.8% of Hanover Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.8% of Bank of South Carolina shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and Bank of South Carolina’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hanover Bancorp	8.70%	6.33%	0.52%
Bank of South Carolina	20.76%	12.48%	0.94%

Risk and Volatility

Hanover Bancorp has a beta of -0.23, suggesting that its share price is 123% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of South Carolina has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bank of South Carolina beats Hanover Bancorp on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hanover Bancorp

Hanover Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company for Hanover Community Bank, provides personal and business lending and deposit services to businesses, municipalities, and individuals in the New York metro area. The company offers checking, credit cards, debit cards, money market, savings, government and municipal banking, and professional services, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, small business administration, lending directory services, and residential mortgage. In addition, the company offers cash management, online and mobile banking, merchant services, and digital solutions. Its banking offices are located in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, New York Counties, New York, Monmouth County, Freehold, and New Jersey. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Mineola, New York.

About Bank of South Carolina

Bank of South Carolina Corporation operates as a bank holding company for The Bank of South Carolina that provides a range of financial products and services primarily in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties of South Carolina. Its deposits include non-interest-bearing demand accounts, NOW accounts, money market accounts, time deposits, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company offers secured and unsecured commercial loans, commercial real estate construction loans, consumer construction loans, home equity lines of credit, and mortgage originations, as well as paycheck protection program loans. It operates five banking house locations. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina.