HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT – Get Rating) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
26.2% of HBT Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.1% of Associated Banc shares are held by institutional investors. 65.2% of HBT Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Associated Banc shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
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Dividends
HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. HBT Financial pays out 33.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc pays out 38.5% 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. HBT Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Associated Banc has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares HBT Financial and Associated Banc's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
| HBT Financial | 31.99% | 14.14% | 1.30% |
| Associated Banc | 28.30% | 8.63% | 0.92% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares HBT Financial and Associated Banc's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
| HBT Financial | $165.55 million | 3.13 | $56.27 million | $1.93 | 9.31 |
| Associated Banc | $1.13 billion | 2.70 | $350.99 million | $2.08 | 9.78 |
Associated Banc has higher revenue and earnings than HBT Financial. HBT Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Associated Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for HBT Financial and Associated Banc, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
| HBT Financial | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Associated Banc | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
HBT Financial presently has a consensus target price of $19.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.79%. Associated Banc has a consensus target price of $23.67, suggesting a potential upside of 16.36%. Given Associated Banc's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Associated Banc is more favorable than HBT Financial.
Volatility & Risk
HBT Financial has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Banc has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Associated Banc beats HBT Financial on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About HBT Financial
(Get Rating)
HBT Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company that provides business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal entities. The company's deposits accounts consist of noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposits, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan offering comprises owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate; construction and land development and multi-family; commercial and industrial; agricultural and farmland; and one-to-four family residential loans, as well as municipal, consumer, and other loans. The company also offers wealth management services, including financial planning to consumers, trusts, and estates; trustee and custodial; investment management; corporate retirement plan consulting and administration; and retail brokerage services. In addition, it provides farmland management, farmland sales, and crop insurance services; and treasury management services, as well as originates and sells residential mortgage loans. Further, the company offers digital banking services, such as online and mobile banking, and digital payment services, as well as personal financial management tools. It operates through 57 branch locations in Central and Northeastern Illinois and four locations in Eastern Iowa. The company was formerly known as Heartland Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to HBT Financial, Inc. in September 2019. HBT Financial, Inc. was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois.
About Associated Banc
(Get Rating)
Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company operates through three segments: Corporate and Commercial Specialty; Community, Consumer, and Business; and Risk Management and Shared Services. Its Corporate and Commercial Specialty segment offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending, and loan syndications; deposit and cash management solutions, such as commercial checking and interest-bearing deposit products, cash vault and night depository services, liquidity solutions, payables and receivables solutions, and information services; specialized financial services such as interest rate risk management, foreign exchange solutions, and commodity hedging; fiduciary services such as administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, fiduciary and corporate agency services, and institutional asset management; and investable funds solutions such as savings, money market deposit accounts, IRA accounts, CDs, fixed and variable annuities, full-service, discount and online investment brokerage; investment advisory services; and trust and investment management accounts. The company's Community, Consumer, and Business segment offers lending solutions, such as residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto loans, business loans, and business lines of credit; and deposit and transactional solutions such as checking, credit, debit and pre-paid cards, online banking and bill pay; and money transfer services. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 215 banking branches. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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