Head to Head Comparison: Civista Bancshares (NASDAQ:CIVB) & Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Hawthorn Bancshares and Civista Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hawthorn Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00
Civista Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Civista Bancshares has a consensus target price of $30.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.70%. Given Civista Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Civista Bancshares is more favorable than Hawthorn Bancshares.

Volatility and Risk

Hawthorn Bancshares has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Civista Bancshares has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hawthorn Bancshares and Civista Bancshares”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	2.38	$23.80 million	$3.82	10.10
Civista Bancshares	$254.95 million	2.25	$46.21 million	$2.70	10.21

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.7% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.1% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 22.9% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Civista Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Hawthorn Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Civista Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hawthorn Bancshares pays out 22.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Civista Bancshares pays out 26.7% 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. Hawthorn Bancshares has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Civista Bancshares has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Hawthorn Bancshares and Civista Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hawthorn Bancshares	22.77%	15.15%	1.42%
Civista Bancshares	20.79%	10.65%	1.35%

Summary

Hawthorn Bancshares beats Civista Bancshares on 9 of the 17 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 Civista Bancshares

Civista Bancshares, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Civista Bank that provides community banking services. It collects a range of customer deposits; and offers commercial and agriculture, commercial and residential real estate, farm real estate, real estate construction, consumer, and other loans, as well as letters of credit. The company also holds and manages securities portfolio; leases general equipment; and provides captive insurance products. It operates in North Central, West Central, South Western Ohio, South Eastern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The company was formerly known as First Citizens Banc Corp and changed its name to Civista Bancshares, Inc. in May 2015. Civista Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio.