Reviewing HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) & Eagle Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSI)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Eagle Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Eagle Financial Services pays out 37.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.1% 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. Eagle Financial Services has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Eagle Financial Services 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 ratings and target prices for Eagle Financial Services and HomeTrust Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Financial Services	0	3	2	1	2.67
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	3	2	1	2.67

Eagle Financial Services presently has a consensus target price of $43.75, suggesting a potential downside of 3.51%. HomeTrust Bancshares has a consensus target price of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.92%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Eagle Financial Services.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Eagle Financial Services and HomeTrust Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Financial Services	$87.31 million	2.81	$8.21 million	$3.30	13.74
HomeTrust Bancshares	$292.47 million	2.68	$64.36 million	$3.97	11.81

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

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Financial Services and HomeTrust Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Financial Services	14.55%	8.02%	0.82%
HomeTrust Bancshares	23.19%	11.12%	1.49%

Risk & Volatility

Eagle Financial Services has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

HomeTrust Bancshares beats Eagle Financial Services on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Financial Services

Eagle Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Clarke County that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Virginia. The company’s deposit products include checking, NOW, money market, and regular savings accounts; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises one-to-four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction and land development, and commercial and industrial loans, as well as secured and unsecured consumer loans, which include personal installment loans, personal lines of credit, automobile loans, and credit card loans. The company also offers personal and retirement plan services; investment services comprising tax-deferred annuities, IRAs and rollovers, mutual funds, retirement plans, college savings plans, life insurance, long term care insurance, fixed income investing, brokerage CDs, and full service or discount brokerage services; non-deposit investment products; and title insurance products. In addition, it provides ATM and debit cards; and telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, as well as other commercial deposit account services, such as ACH origination and remote deposit capture services. The company operates through twelve full-service branches, two loan production offices, one wealth management office, and one drive-through only facility, as well as 13 ATM locations in the Virginia communities of Berryville, Winchester, Boyce, Stephens City, Purcellville, Warrenton, Leesburg, Ashburn, and Fairfax. Eagle Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Berryville, Virginia.

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.