Contrasting HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) & Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB)

Bridgewater Bancshares (NASDAQ:BWB) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Bridgewater Bancshares and HBT Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridgewater Bancshares	15.74%	10.84%	0.87%
HBT Financial	26.20%	13.50%	1.58%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Bridgewater Bancshares and HBT Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridgewater Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60
HBT Financial	0	3	3	1	2.71

Bridgewater Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $22.33, indicating a potential upside of 22.99%. HBT Financial has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.23%. Given Bridgewater Bancshares’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Bridgewater Bancshares is more favorable than HBT Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bridgewater Bancshares and HBT Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridgewater Bancshares	$292.76 million	1.73	$46.09 million	$1.50	12.11
HBT Financial	$293.97 million	2.92	$77.01 million	$2.44	11.19

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

65.8% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of HBT Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 23.1% of Bridgewater Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 59.7% of HBT Financial shares are held by 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.

Volatility & Risk

Bridgewater Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HBT Financial has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

HBT Financial beats Bridgewater Bancshares on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bridgewater Bancshares

Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bridgewater Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial real estate investors, entrepreneurs, business clients, and individuals in the United States. The company provides savings and money market accounts, demand deposits, time and brokered deposits, and interest and noninterest bearing transaction, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers commercial loans to sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other business enterprises to finance working capital, capital investment, or for other business related purposes; paycheck protection program loans; construction and land development loans; 1-4 family mortgage loans; multifamily lending products; owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company online, mobile, and direct banking services. Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

About HBT Financial

HBT Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company that provides business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal entities in Central and Northeastern Illinois, and Eastern Iowa. The company's deposits accounts consist of noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposits, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan offering comprises owner and non-owner occupied commercial real estate; construction and land development and multi-family; commercial and industrial; agricultural and farmland; and one-to-four family residential loans, as well as municipal, consumer, and other loans. The company also offers wealth management services, including financial planning to consumers, trusts, and estates; trustee and custodial; investment management; corporate retirement plan consulting and administration; and retail brokerage services. In addition, it provides farmland management, and farmland sales and services; commercial checking accounts; and treasury management services, as well as originates and sells residential mortgage loans. Further, the company offers digital banking services, such as online and mobile banking, and digital payment services, as well as personal financial management tools. The company was formerly known as Heartland Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to HBT Financial, Inc. in September 2019. HBT Financial, Inc. was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois.