Reviewing Community Heritage Financial (OTCMKTS:CMHF) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT)

Community Heritage Financial (OTCMKTS:CMHF) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Community Heritage Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Community Heritage Financial pays out 10.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HBT Financial pays out 37.7% 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 raised 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.2% of Community Heritage Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of HBT Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 59.7% of HBT Financial shares are held by 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Community Heritage Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A
HBT Financial	26.20%	13.69%	1.58%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Community Heritage Financial and HBT Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Community Heritage Financial	$60.49 million	1.50	$8.61 million	$2.94	10.51
HBT Financial	$293.97 million	2.99	$77.01 million	$2.44	11.45

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Community Heritage Financial and HBT Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Community Heritage Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
HBT Financial	0	3	4	0	2.57

HBT Financial has a consensus target price of $28.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.00%. Given HBT Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe HBT Financial is more favorable than Community Heritage Financial.

Risk and Volatility

Community Heritage Financial has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HBT Financial has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

HBT Financial beats Community Heritage Financial on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Community Heritage Financial

Community Heritage Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Middletown Valley Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Its primary deposit products include demand, savings, and time deposits, as well as lending products comprise real estate mortgages, commercial business loans, and instalment loans. The company also offers mortgage financing, new home purchases, refinancing, and construction lending in Middletown, Crofton, and Oakland, Maryland. The company was founded in 1908 and is based in Middletown, Maryland.

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.