Central Plains Bancshares (NASDAQ:CPBI) and Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) Critical Review

Institutional and Insider Ownership

24.3% of Central Plains Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of Waterstone Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Central Plains Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Waterstone Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Central Plains Bancshares and Waterstone Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Central Plains Bancshares	$1.26 million	50.13	$3.76 million	N/A	N/A
Waterstone Financial	$129.79 million	1.84	$18.69 million	$1.02	12.14

Waterstone Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Central Plains Bancshares.

Volatility and Risk

Central Plains Bancshares has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waterstone Financial has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Central Plains Bancshares and Waterstone Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Central Plains Bancshares	13.97%	4.63%	0.78%
Waterstone Financial	9.23%	5.75%	0.86%

Summary

Waterstone Financial beats Central Plains Bancshares on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Central Plains Bancshares

Central Plains Bancshares, Inc. focuses on providing various banking products and services to retail customers, and small and medium-sized commercial customers in Nebraska, the United States. It offers checking accounts, savings accounts, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company also provides one- to four-family residential mortgage loans secured by properties, as well as commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, multi-family residential real estate loans, construction and land development loans, agricultural real estate and non-real estate loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it offers electronic banking services, including mobile banking, on-line banking and bill pay, and electronic funds transfer. The company was incorporated in 2023 and is based in Grand Island, Nebraska.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts. It also provides transaction deposits, interest bearing transaction accounts, demand deposits, non-interest-bearing demand accounts, and time deposits; secured and unsecured lines; commercial real estate construction loans; term loans for working capital, inventory, and general corporate use; and personal term loans and investment services. The Mortgage Banking segment offers residential mortgage loans for the purpose of sale in the secondary market. It also invests in a portfolio of securities include mortgage-backed securities, government-sponsored and private-label enterprise bonds, collateralized mortgage and municipal obligations, and other debt securities. The company was formerly known as Wauwatosa Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Waterstone Financial, Inc. in August 2008. The company was founded in 1921 and is based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.