Financial Comparison: Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) and Security Bank (OTCMKTS:SYBJF)

Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) and Security Bank (OTCMKTS:SYBJF) are both financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Hawthorn Bancshares and Security Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hawthorn Bancshares	0	0	0	0	N/A
Security Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hawthorn Bancshares and Security Bank”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hawthorn Bancshares	$58.11 million	2.89	$960,000.00	$0.30	80.00
Security Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	$12.07	0.13

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

Profitability

This table compares Hawthorn Bancshares and Security Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hawthorn Bancshares	3.96%	3.19%	0.23%
Security Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

30.7% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.8% of Security Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.4% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Hawthorn Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Security Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 63.7%. Hawthorn Bancshares pays out 253.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Security Bank pays out 8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hawthorn Bancshares has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Security Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Hawthorn Bancshares beats Security Bank on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hawthorn Bancshares

Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Hawthorn Bank that provides various banking services in the United States. It accepts checking, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial and industrial, single payment personal, installment, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans, as well as equipment, operating, and small business administration loans; and debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides trust services that include estate planning, investment, and asset management services; and cash management, safety deposit box, brokerage, and Internet banking services. Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri.

About Security Bank

Security Bank Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services to wholesale and retail clients in the Philippines. It operates through Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, Business Banking, and Financial Markets segments. The Retail Banking segment provides deposits, consumer loans, credit cards, bancassurance, and investments to individual clients. The Wholesale Banking segment offers relationship management, loans, trade, cash management, deposits, and investments services; and structured financing and advisory services, debt and equity capital raising, project financing, and mergers and acquisitions advisory to corporates, institutional, and public sector markets and commercial clients. The Business Banking segment offers deposits, loans, cash management, insurance, and investments to micro, small, and medium enterprises. The Financial Markets segment provides money market, foreign exchange, financial derivatives, debt and equity securities brokerage, asset management, trust, and fiduciary services. It also provides a range of investment banking and financial services; and foreign exchange brokerage services. In addition, the company rents and leases a range of machineries and equipment, automotive equipment, and automotive vehicles comprising cars, vans, pick-ups, trucks, tractors, trailers, and buses, as well as various land, air, or water transportation equipment. The company was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.