Contrasting Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HomeTrust Bancshares	23.19%	11.12%	1.49%
Plumas Bancorp	31.72%	15.82%	1.88%

Dividends

HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plumas Bancorp pays out 22.1% 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. Plumas Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Plumas Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for HomeTrust Bancshares and Plumas Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	3	2	1	2.67
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	4	0	3.00

HomeTrust Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.08%. Plumas Bancorp has a consensus price target of $68.25, indicating a potential upside of 7.94%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Plumas Bancorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Plumas 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	2.67	$64.36 million	$3.97	11.79
Plumas Bancorp	$112.17 million	3.92	$29.62 million	$5.96	10.61

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

Volatility and Risk

HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.0% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Plumas Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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 Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.