Comparing Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) & Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK)

Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) and Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Hawthorn Bancshares and Midland States Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hawthorn Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00
Midland States Bancorp	0	5	0	1	2.33

Midland States Bancorp has a consensus price target of $24.70, suggesting a potential downside of 20.63%. Given Midland States Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Midland States Bancorp is more favorable than Hawthorn Bancshares.

Dividends

Hawthorn Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Midland States Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hawthorn Bancshares pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Midland States Bancorp pays out 108.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Hawthorn Bancshares has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Midland States Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hawthorn Bancshares and Midland States Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hawthorn Bancshares	$111.97 million	2.41	$23.80 million	$3.64	10.75
Midland States Bancorp	$476.05 million	1.36	-$124.28 million	$1.18	26.37

Hawthorn Bancshares has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Midland States Bancorp. Hawthorn Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Midland States Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Hawthorn Bancshares and Midland States Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hawthorn Bancshares	22.14%	15.01%	1.33%
Midland States Bancorp	7.53%	11.55%	0.78%

Risk & Volatility

Hawthorn Bancshares has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Midland States Bancorp has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.7% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of Midland States Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 22.9% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Midland States Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Hawthorn Bancshares beats Midland States Bancorp on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hawthorn Bancshares

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Hawthorn Bank that provides various banking services in the United States. It accepts checking, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial and industrial, single payment personal, installment, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as equipment, operating, and small business administration loans; and debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides trust services that include estate planning, investment, and asset management services; and cash management, safety deposit box, brokerage, and Internet banking services. Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri.

About Midland States Bancorp

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for Midland States Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities. It operates through Banking, Wealth Management, and Other segments. The company provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and businesses, including commercial loans to finance agricultural equipment and production; and commercial real estate loans for owner occupied offices, warehouses and production facilities, office buildings, hotels, mixed-use residential and commercial facilities, retail centers, multifamily properties, and assisted living facilities. In addition, it offers construction and land development loans, such as real estate investment properties and residential developments, and lesser extent loans; and residential real estate loans, which includes first and second mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit consisting of loans secured by first or second mortgages on primarily owner occupied primary residences. The company also provides consumer installment loans for the purchase of cars, boats and other recreational vehicles, as well as for the purchase of major appliances and other home improvement projects; and commercial equipment leasing programs for manufacturing, construction, transportation, and healthcare industries. Further, it offers merchant services; deposit products, including checking, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, as well as sweep accounts; letters of credit; and trust and wealth management services, such as financial and estate planning, trustee and custodial, investment management, tax, insurance, and business planning, corporate retirement plan consulting and administration, and retail brokerage services. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Effingham, Illinois.