Ames National (ATLO) Competitors

Ames National (NASDAQ:ATLO) and MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Does the media prefer ATLO or MOFG?

In the previous week, MidWestOne Financial Group had 2 more articles in the media than Ames National. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for MidWestOne Financial Group and 3 mentions for Ames National. MidWestOne Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Ames National's score of 0.77 indicating that MidWestOne Financial Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ames National	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MidWestOne Financial Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ATLO or MOFG?

MidWestOne Financial Group received 117 more outperform votes than Ames National when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 54.49% of users gave Ames National an outperform vote while only 52.32% of users gave MidWestOne Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ames National	Outperform Votes 97 54.49%	Underperform Votes 81 45.51%
MidWestOne Financial Group	Outperform Votes 214 52.32%	Underperform Votes 195 47.68%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ATLO or MOFG?

26.5% of Ames National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.4% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Ames National shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, ATLO or MOFG?

Ames National has higher earnings, but lower revenue than MidWestOne Financial Group. MidWestOne Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ames National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ames National	$54.81M	2.88	$10.22M	$1.14	15.54
MidWestOne Financial Group	$69.29M	8.93	-$60.29M	-$4.06	-7.32

Which has more risk & volatility, ATLO or MOFG?

Ames National has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MidWestOne Financial Group has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ATLO or MOFG a better dividend stock?

Ames National pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. MidWestOne Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ames National pays out 70.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MidWestOne Financial Group pays out -23.9% 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.

Do analysts rate ATLO or MOFG?

MidWestOne Financial Group has a consensus price target of $34.67, indicating a potential upside of 16.64%. Given MidWestOne Financial Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MidWestOne Financial Group is more favorable than Ames National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ames National	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
MidWestOne Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is ATLO or MOFG more profitable?

Ames National has a net margin of 11.05% compared to MidWestOne Financial Group's net margin of 9.79%. MidWestOne Financial Group's return on equity of 6.54% beat Ames National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ames National	11.05%	5.94%	0.48%
MidWestOne Financial Group	9.79%	6.54%	0.54%

Summary

MidWestOne Financial Group beats Ames National on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.