Financial Survey: Bank of Santa Clarita (OTCMKTS:BSCA) & HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT)

Bank of Santa Clarita (OTCMKTS:BSCA) and HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Bank of Santa Clarita and HBT Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Santa Clarita	N/A	N/A	N/A
HBT Financial	24.68%	14.70%	1.49%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Bank of Santa Clarita and HBT Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Santa Clarita	0	0	0	0	0.00
HBT Financial	1	2	2	0	2.20

HBT Financial has a consensus target price of $24.40, indicating a potential upside of 1.88%. Given HBT Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe HBT Financial is more favorable than Bank of Santa Clarita.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bank of Santa Clarita and HBT Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of Santa Clarita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
HBT Financial	$265.05 million	2.85	$65.84 million	$2.20	10.89

HBT Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of Santa Clarita.

Summary

HBT Financial beats Bank of Santa Clarita on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank of Santa Clarita

Bank of Santa Clarita engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It offers real estate, small business administration, commercial and consumer loans, consumer and business checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, trade finance, and money transfers. The company was founded by Frank D. Di Tomaso on October 26, 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA.

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.