Head to Head Survey: Happen Bank (NASDAQ:HAPN) & Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC)

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) and Happen Bank (NASDAQ:HAPN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Atlanticus has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Happen Bank has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Atlanticus and Happen Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlanticus	0	2	5	1	2.88
Happen Bank	0	1	3	0	2.75

Atlanticus currently has a consensus price target of $129.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.32%. Happen Bank has a consensus price target of $23.33, suggesting a potential upside of 39.80%. Given Happen Bank’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Happen Bank is more favorable than Atlanticus.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Atlanticus and Happen Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlanticus	$1.97 billion	0.77	$122.20 million	$7.69	12.97
Happen Bank	$998.85 million	1.92	$135.68 million	$1.79	9.32

Happen Bank has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Atlanticus. Happen Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atlanticus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

14.2% of Atlanticus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.1% of Happen Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.0% of Atlanticus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Happen Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Atlanticus and Happen Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlanticus	5.80%	25.17%	2.15%
Happen Bank	20.16%	13.62%	1.71%

Summary

Atlanticus beats Happen Bank on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlanticus

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, a financial technology company, provides credit and related financial services and products to customers the United States. It operates in two segments, Credit as a Service, and Auto Finance. The Credit as a Service segment originates a range of consumer loan products, such as private label and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through various channels, including retail and healthcare, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing, and partnerships with third parties; and offers credit to their customers for the purchase of various goods and services, including consumer electronics, furniture, elective medical procedures, healthcare, and home-improvements by partnering with retailers, healthcare providers, and other service providers. This segment also offers loan servicing, such as risk management and customer service outsourcing for third parties; and engages in testing and investment activities in consumer finance technology platforms. The Auto Finance segment purchases and/or services loans secured by automobiles from or for a pre-qualified network of independent automotive dealers and automotive finance companies in the buy-here, pay-here, and used car business. This segment also provides floor plan financing and installment lending products. It also invests in and services portfolios of credit card receivables. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Happen Bank

Happen Bank, originally founded as LendingClub in 2006, is a digital bank primarily built for high-FICO, high-income borrowers that are actively managing their financial lives. The company offers products to make financial progress both fast and easy. Additionally, the company provides advanced credit underwriting, a proprietary technology platform, and a marketplace bank model intended to drive value for members, loan investors, and shareholders. Happen Bank is headquartered in San Fancisco, California.