HBT Financial (HBT) Competitors

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, valuation, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends and institutional ownership.

Does the media refer more to IBCP or HBT?

In the previous week, Independent Bank had 1 more articles in the media than HBT Financial. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Independent Bank and 3 mentions for HBT Financial. HBT Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Independent Bank's score of 0.82 indicating that HBT Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Independent Bank	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
HBT Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate IBCP or HBT?

Independent Bank presently has a consensus price target of $32.17, suggesting a potential downside of 14.77%. HBT Financial has a consensus price target of $24.40, suggesting a potential upside of 0.70%. Given HBT Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HBT Financial is more favorable than Independent Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independent Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
HBT Financial	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Is IBCP or HBT more profitable?

HBT Financial has a net margin of 24.68% compared to Independent Bank's net margin of 19.93%. Independent Bank's return on equity of 15.26% beat HBT Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independent Bank	19.93%	15.26%	1.24%
HBT Financial	24.68%	14.70%	1.49%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor IBCP or HBT?

Independent Bank received 199 more outperform votes than HBT Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.74% of users gave Independent Bank an outperform vote while only 41.94% of users gave HBT Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Independent Bank	Outperform Votes 225 54.74%	Underperform Votes 186 45.26%
HBT Financial	Outperform Votes 26 41.94%	Underperform Votes 36 58.06%

Is IBCP or HBT a better dividend stock?

Independent Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. HBT Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Independent Bank pays out 32.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HBT Financial pays out 34.5% 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, IBCP or HBT?

Independent Bank has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HBT Financial has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, IBCP or HBT?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independent Bank	$290.35M	2.72	$59.07M	$2.94	12.84
HBT Financial	$265.05M	2.89	$65.84M	$2.20	11.01

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of IBCP or HBT?

79.4% of Independent Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of HBT Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Independent Bank shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 59.8% of HBT Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Independent Bank and HBT Financial tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.