Comparing Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) & First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK)

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) and Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.7% of First Interstate BancSystem shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.5% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of First Interstate BancSystem shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

First Interstate BancSystem has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heartland BancCorp. has a beta of 0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 98% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for First Interstate BancSystem and Heartland BancCorp., as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Interstate BancSystem	2	2	3	0	2.14
Heartland BancCorp.	0	1	0	0	2.00

First Interstate BancSystem presently has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.73%. Heartland BancCorp. has a consensus target price of $145.00, suggesting a potential downside of 9.38%. Given First Interstate BancSystem’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Interstate BancSystem is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp..

Profitability

This table compares First Interstate BancSystem and Heartland BancCorp.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Interstate BancSystem	14.93%	6.57%	0.74%
Heartland BancCorp.	17.00%	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Interstate BancSystem and Heartland BancCorp.”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Interstate BancSystem	$1.48 billion	1.87	$226.00 million	$2.11	12.50
Heartland BancCorp.	$119.21 million	2.74	$20.26 million	$9.76	16.39

First Interstate BancSystem has higher revenue and earnings than Heartland BancCorp.. First Interstate BancSystem is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heartland BancCorp., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

First Interstate BancSystem pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Heartland BancCorp. pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. First Interstate BancSystem pays out 89.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Heartland BancCorp. pays out 23.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

First Interstate BancSystem beats Heartland BancCorp. on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Interstate BancSystem

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors. The company also offers real estate loans comprising commercial real estate, construction, residential, agricultural, and other real estate loans; consumer loans comprising direct personal loans, credit card loans and lines of credit, and indirect loans; variable and fixed rate commercial loans for small and medium-sized manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and service businesses for working capital needs and business expansions; and agricultural loans. In addition, it provides a range of trust, employee benefit, investment management, insurance, agency, and custodial services to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Further, the company offers marketing, credit review, loan servicing, credit cards issuance and servicing, mortgage loan sales and servicing, indirect consumer loan purchasing and processing, loan collection services, other operational, and specialized staff support services, as well as online and mobile banking services. The company serves individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities in various industries, including agriculture, construction, education, governmental services, healthcare, hospitality, housing, professional services, real estate development, retail, technology, tourism, and wholesale trade. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Billings, Montana.

About Heartland BancCorp.

Heartland BancCorp operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank that provides various banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts. It also provides various lending solutions comprising agricultural loans, commercial and business lending, home and personal loans, and title services. In addition, the company offers online banking, treasury management, credit and debit card, and mobile wallet services. Further, it provides education planning, insurance, wealth management, and retirement planning services. Heartland BancCorp was founded in 1911 and is based in Whitehall, Ohio.