Reviewing Heartland BancCorp (OTCMKTS:HLAN) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and Heartland BancCorp (OTCMKTS:HLAN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares U.S. Bancorp and Heartland BancCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Bancorp	12.13%	13.93%	0.99%
Heartland BancCorp	18.24%	N/A	N/A

Dividends

U.S. Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Heartland BancCorp pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. U.S. Bancorp pays out 64.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Heartland BancCorp pays out 30.6% 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. U.S. Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. U.S. Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for U.S. Bancorp and Heartland BancCorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Bancorp	0	15	8	0	2.35
Heartland BancCorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $46.02, suggesting a potential upside of 15.92%. Heartland BancCorp has a consensus price target of $100.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.57%. Given U.S. Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe U.S. Bancorp is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares U.S. Bancorp and Heartland BancCorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U.S. Bancorp	$40.62 billion	1.52	$5.43 billion	$3.02	13.15
Heartland BancCorp	$104.83 million	1.70	$19.52 million	$9.94	8.86

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

Volatility and Risk

U.S. Bancorp has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heartland BancCorp has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.6% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.5% of Heartland BancCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of U.S. Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

U.S. Bancorp beats Heartland BancCorp on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments. The company offers depository services, including checking accounts, savings accounts, and time certificate contracts; and lending services, such as traditional credit products and credit card services, lease financing and import/export trade, asset-backed lending, agricultural finance, and other products. It also provides ancillary services comprising capital markets, treasury management, and receivable lock-box collection services to corporate and governmental entity customers. In addition, the company offers asset management and fiduciary services for individuals, estates, foundations, business corporations, and charitable organizations. Further, it provides investment and insurance products to its customers principally within its domestic markets, as well as fund administration services to mutual and other funds. Additionally, the company provides corporate and purchasing card, and corporate trust services. Furthermore, it offers trust and investment management, merchant and ATM processing, mortgage banking, insurance, and brokerage and leasing services. U.S. Bancorp was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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.