HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) and Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Critical Survey

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

Dividends

Eastern Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Eastern Bankshares pays out 126.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. HBT Financial pays out 37.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eastern Bankshares has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and HBT Financial has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. HBT Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eastern Bankshares	$721.80 million	6.45	$88.22 million	$0.41	48.41
HBT Financial	$235.74 million	3.66	$77.01 million	$2.44	11.25

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Eastern Bankshares and HBT Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eastern Bankshares	0	3	3	1	2.71
HBT Financial	0	3	3	1	2.71

Eastern Bankshares currently has a consensus price target of $22.30, suggesting a potential upside of 12.34%. HBT Financial has a consensus price target of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.69%. Given Eastern Bankshares’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Eastern Bankshares is more favorable than HBT Financial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.7% of Eastern Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of HBT Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Eastern Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 59.7% of HBT Financial shares are owned 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.

Risk & Volatility

Eastern Bankshares has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HBT Financial has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eastern Bankshares	8.32%	8.25%	1.19%
HBT Financial	26.20%	13.50%	1.58%

Summary

HBT Financial beats Eastern Bankshares on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and construction, small business, residential real estate, and home equity loans; lines of credit; and other consumer loans comprising unsecured personal lines of credit, overdraft protection, automobile loans, home improvement loans, airplane loans, and other personal loans. In addition, the company provides trust, financial planning and portfolio management, automated lock box collection, cash management, and account reconciliation services; personal, business, and employee benefits insurance products. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1818 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

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.