Reviewing HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) & First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB)

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

HBT Financial has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of HBT Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by institutional investors. 59.8% of HBT Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of First Hawaiian 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.

Dividends

HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. HBT Financial pays out 33.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 59.8% 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 3 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for HBT Financial and First Hawaiian, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HBT Financial	1	1	0	0	1.50
First Hawaiian	2	1	0	0	1.33

HBT Financial presently has a consensus price target of $21.75, suggesting a potential upside of 13.22%. First Hawaiian has a consensus price target of $21.75, suggesting a potential downside of 1.32%. Given HBT Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HBT Financial is more favorable than First Hawaiian.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares HBT Financial and First Hawaiian’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HBT Financial	$265.05 million	2.29	$65.84 million	$2.26	8.50
First Hawaiian	$1.12 billion	2.50	$234.98 million	$1.74	12.67

First Hawaiian has higher revenue and earnings than HBT Financial. HBT Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Hawaiian, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares HBT Financial and First Hawaiian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HBT Financial	26.29%	16.14%	1.52%
First Hawaiian	19.20%	9.16%	0.90%

Summary

HBT Financial beats First Hawaiian on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HBT Financial

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 in Central and Northeastern Illinois, and Eastern Iowa. 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, and farmland sales and services; commercial checking accounts; 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. 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 First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for First Hawaiian Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The company offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and time deposit accounts, and other deposit accounts. It also provides residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit and loans, automobile loans and leases, secured and unsecured lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and construction lending, as well as commercial lease and auto dealer financing. In addition, the company offers wealth management, personal installment, individual investment and financial planning, insurance protection, trust and estate, private banking, investment management, retirement planning, and merchant processing services, as well as consumer and commercial credit cards. The company was formerly known as BancWest Corporation and changed its name to First Hawaiian, Inc. in April 2016. First Hawaiian, Inc. was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.