Analyzing HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) & Five Star Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBC)

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) and Five Star Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for HomeTrust Bancshares and Five Star Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	2	2	1	2.80
Five Star Bancorp	0	3	4	0	2.57

HomeTrust Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.78%. Five Star Bancorp has a consensus price target of $45.20, suggesting a potential downside of 0.77%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Five Star Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Five Star Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HomeTrust Bancshares	22.50%	10.88%	1.45%
Five Star Bancorp	25.92%	15.92%	1.45%

Dividends

HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Five Star Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Five Star Bancorp pays out 29.6% 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.

Risk & Volatility

HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Five Star Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.9% of Five Star Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 11.0% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.8% of Five Star Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Five Star Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HomeTrust Bancshares	$292.47 million	2.73	$64.36 million	$3.81	12.55
Five Star Bancorp	$255.47 million	4.38	$61.61 million	$3.38	13.48

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

Summary

HomeTrust Bancshares beats Five Star Bancorp on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. Its deposit products include savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The company’s loan portfolio comprises retail consumer loans, such as one-to-four-family real estate lending, home equity lines of credit, construction and land/lots, indirect auto finance, and consumer lending; and commercial loans that include commercial real estate, construction and development, and commercial and industrial loans. It also provides small business administration loans, equipment finance leases, indirect automobile loans, and municipal leases; and cash management and online/mobile banking services. As of June 30, 2021, the company operated 41 offices in North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, East Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia. HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina.

About Five Star Bancorp

Five Star Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Five Star Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals in Northern California. It accepts various deposits, such as money market accounts, noninterest-bearing and interest checking accounts, savings accounts, term certificate accounts, and time deposits. The company also offers loan products, including commercial and residential real estate loans; commercial loans; commercial land loans; farmland loans; commercial and residential construction loans; and consumer and other loans, as well as operating lines of credit. In addition, it provides debit cards; and remote deposit capture, online and mobile banking, and direct deposit services. Five Star Bancorp was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Rancho Cordova, California.