HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) vs. Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) Head-To-Head Contrast

Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Dividends

Hanover Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hanover Bancorp pays out 26.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HBT Financial pays out 34.7% 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 5 consecutive years. HBT Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Hanover Bancorp has a beta of 0.06, meaning that its share price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HBT Financial has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Hanover Bancorp and HBT Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hanover Bancorp	0	2	1	0	2.33
HBT Financial	0	3	3	0	2.50

Hanover Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $23.83, suggesting a potential upside of 5.78%. HBT Financial has a consensus target price of $28.80, suggesting a potential upside of 8.31%. Given HBT Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HBT Financial is more favorable than Hanover Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and HBT Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hanover Bancorp	$148.36 million	1.10	$12.35 million	$1.53	14.73
HBT Financial	$230.41 million	3.63	$71.78 million	$2.42	10.99

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

15.0% of Hanover Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of HBT Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 24.8% of Hanover Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 59.7% of HBT Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hanover Bancorp	7.73%	7.40%	0.61%
HBT Financial	26.22%	13.98%	1.55%

Summary

HBT Financial beats Hanover Bancorp on 15 of the 17 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 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.