Head-To-Head Analysis: Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) vs. HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT)

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) and Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Dividends

HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Bank OZK pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. HBT Financial pays out 42.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank OZK pays out 32.4% 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 and Bank OZK has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years. Bank OZK is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of HBT Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Bank OZK shares are held by institutional investors. 51.9% of HBT Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Bank OZK shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for HBT Financial and Bank OZK, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HBT Financial	0	2	3	2	3.00
Bank OZK	2	6	3	0	2.09

HBT Financial presently has a consensus target price of $37.40, indicating a potential upside of 5.92%. Bank OZK has a consensus target price of $54.57, indicating a potential upside of 18.85%. Given Bank OZK’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Bank OZK is more favorable than HBT Financial.

Risk & Volatility

HBT Financial has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank OZK has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HBT Financial	23.44%	13.46%	1.55%
Bank OZK	24.95%	11.87%	1.67%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares HBT Financial and Bank OZK”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HBT Financial	$266.65 million	4.82	$77.01 million	$2.33	15.15
Bank OZK	$1.74 billion	2.95	$715.48 million	$6.05	7.59

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

Summary

Bank OZK beats HBT Financial on 11 of the 17 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 Bank OZK

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits. It also provides trust and wealth services, such as personal trusts, custodial accounts, investment management accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as corporate trust services, including trustee, paying agent and registered transfer agent services, and other related services. In addition, the company offers treasury management services comprising automated clearing house, wire transfer, transaction reporting, wholesale lockbox, remote deposit capture, automated credit line transfer, reconciliation, positive pay, commercial card, and other services, as well as zero balance and investment sweep accounts. Further, it provides real estate, consumer, small business, indirect recreational vehicle and marine, equipment, agricultural, commercial and industrial, government guaranteed, lines of credit, homebuilder, and affordable housing loans; lender and structured, business aviation, and subscription financing services; and mortgage and other lending products. Additionally, the company offers ATMs; telephone, online, and mobile banking services; credit and debit cards; safe deposit boxes; and other products and services. The company was formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks and changed its name to Bank OZK in July 2018. Bank OZK was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.