Analyzing Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) & Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heartland BancCorp. and Associated Banc”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heartland BancCorp.	$119.21 million	2.74	$20.26 million	$9.76	16.39
Associated Banc	$2.46 billion	1.84	$474.78 million	$2.77	9.84

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

Profitability

This table compares Heartland BancCorp. and Associated Banc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heartland BancCorp.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Associated Banc	19.31%	10.25%	1.07%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Heartland BancCorp. and Associated Banc, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heartland BancCorp.	0	0	0	0	0.00
Associated Banc	0	8	3	0	2.27

Associated Banc has a consensus price target of $29.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.12%. Given Associated Banc’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Associated Banc is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp..

Institutional and Insider Ownership

7.5% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are held by institutional investors. 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Associated Banc shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Associated Banc beats Heartland BancCorp. on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.