Financial Survey: HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) versus Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL)

Grupo Financiero Galicia (NASDAQ:GGAL) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Grupo Financiero Galicia has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HBT Financial has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Grupo Financiero Galicia and HBT Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grupo Financiero Galicia	N/A	N/A	N/A
HBT Financial	23.44%	13.46%	1.55%

Dividends

Grupo Financiero Galicia pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Grupo Financiero Galicia pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HBT Financial pays out 42.9% 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. HBT Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Grupo Financiero Galicia and HBT Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grupo Financiero Galicia	1	4	2	1	2.38
HBT Financial	0	3	4	0	2.57

Grupo Financiero Galicia presently has a consensus price target of $68.33, suggesting a potential upside of 63.56%. HBT Financial has a consensus price target of $37.40, suggesting a potential upside of 4.11%. Given Grupo Financiero Galicia’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Grupo Financiero Galicia is more favorable than HBT Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.6% of HBT Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.9% of HBT Financial shares are owned by company 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Grupo Financiero Galicia and HBT Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grupo Financiero Galicia	$8,615.05 billion	0.00	$170.02 million	$2.45	17.05
HBT Financial	$266.65 million	4.90	$77.01 million	$2.33	15.42

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

Summary

HBT Financial beats Grupo Financiero Galicia on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Grupo Financiero Galicia

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A., a financial service holding company, provides various financial products and services to individuals and companies in Argentina. The company operates through Banks, NaranjaX, Insurance, and Other Businesses segments. It also offers personal loans; express and mortgage loans; pledge and credit card loans; credit and debit cards; and online banking services, as well as savings, deposits, and checking accounts related services. In addition, the company offers financing products; consumer finance and digital banking services; electronic check; global custody services; Fima funds; financial and stock market services to individuals, companies, and financial institutions; foreign trade services; and capital market and investment banking products that include debt securities, short-term securities, and financial trusts. Further, it provides robbery, personal accident, life collective, home, life, integral, pet, surety, and technical insurance products. Additionally, the company offers private banking services to high net worth individuals; and operates digital investment platform. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. was founded in 1905 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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.