Financial Survey: Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) versus HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB)

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Risk and Volatility

HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Banc has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Associated Banc’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%
Associated Banc	19.66%	10.64%	1.12%

Dividends

HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc pays out 33.6% 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. Associated Banc has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Associated Banc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for HomeTrust Bancshares and Associated Banc, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	2	2	1	2.80
Associated Banc	0	6	5	1	2.58

HomeTrust Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.07%. Associated Banc has a consensus target price of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.47%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Associated Banc.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.0% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Associated Banc shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HomeTrust Bancshares and Associated Banc”s 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	2.62	$64.36 million	$3.81	12.07
Associated Banc	$2.46 billion	2.22	$474.78 million	$2.86	10.13

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

Summary

HomeTrust Bancshares beats Associated Banc on 11 of the 17 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 Associated Banc

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit. It also provides deposit and cash management solutions, such as commercial checking and interest-bearing deposit products, cash vault and night depository services, liquidity solutions, payables and receivables solutions, and information services; specialized financial services, such as interest rate risk management and foreign exchange solutions; fiduciary services, such as administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, fiduciary and corporate agency services, and institutional asset management services; and investable funds solutions, including savings, money market deposit accounts, IRA accounts, CDs, fixed and variable annuities, full-service, discount, and online investment brokerage; investment advisory services; and trust and investment management accounts. In addition, the company offers deposit and transactional solutions, including checking, credit, debit and pre-paid cards, online banking and bill pay; and money transfer services. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.