Critical Review: Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) & Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) and Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.5% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Enterprise Financial Services and Heartland BancCorp.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enterprise Financial Services	20.15%	10.57%	1.22%
Heartland BancCorp.	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Enterprise Financial Services and Heartland BancCorp., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enterprise Financial Services	0	1	3	0	2.75
Heartland BancCorp.	0	0	0	0	0.00

Enterprise Financial Services presently has a consensus price target of $66.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.35%. Given Enterprise Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Enterprise Financial Services is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp..

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Enterprise Financial Services and Heartland BancCorp.”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enterprise Financial Services	$1.00 billion	2.00	$201.37 million	$5.31	10.24
Heartland BancCorp.	$119.21 million	2.74	$20.26 million	$9.76	16.39

Enterprise Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Heartland BancCorp.. Enterprise Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heartland BancCorp., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Enterprise Financial Services beats Heartland BancCorp. on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enterprise Financial Services

Enterprise Financial Services Corp operates as the holding company for Enterprise Bank & Trust that offers banking and wealth management services to individuals and corporate customers primarily in Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico. It provides checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, real estate construction and development, residential real estate, small business administration, agricultural, consumer, and other loan products. In addition, it offers treasury management and international trade services; tax credit brokerage services; life insurance premium and sponsor finance; tax credit related lending; other deposit accounts, such as community associations, property management, third party escrow, and trust services; treasury management product and services; customized solutions and products; cash management; fiduciary, investment management, and financial advisory services; and customer hedging products, including international banking, card services, and tax credit businesses. Further, the company provides online, device applications, text, and voice banking; remote deposit capture; internet banking, mobile banking, cash management, positive pay services, fraud detection and prevention, automated payables, check image, and statement and document imaging; and controlled disbursements, repurchase agreements, and sweep investment accounts. Enterprise Financial Services Corp was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.

About Heartland BancCorp.

Heartland BancCorp operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank that provides various banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts. It also provides various lending solutions comprising agricultural loans, commercial and business lending, home and personal loans, and title services. In addition, the company offers online banking, treasury management, credit and debit card, and mobile wallet services. Further, it provides education planning, insurance, wealth management, and retirement planning services. Heartland BancCorp was founded in 1911 and is based in Whitehall, Ohio.