Critical Survey: First of Long Island (NASDAQ:FLIC) and Heartland BancCorp (OTCMKTS:HLAN)

Heartland BancCorp (OTCMKTS:HLAN) and First of Long Island (NASDAQ:FLIC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Heartland BancCorp has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First of Long Island has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Heartland BancCorp and First of Long Island’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heartland BancCorp	17.89%	N/A	N/A
First of Long Island	11.15%	5.49%	0.49%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Heartland BancCorp and First of Long Island, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heartland BancCorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
First of Long Island	0	1	0	0	2.00

Heartland BancCorp presently has a consensus price target of $122.50, indicating a potential downside of 16.61%. First of Long Island has a consensus price target of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.85%. Given First of Long Island’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First of Long Island is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heartland BancCorp and First of Long Island”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heartland BancCorp	$104.83 million	2.84	$19.52 million	$9.74	15.08
First of Long Island	$86.16 million	3.01	$26.24 million	$0.88	13.09

First of Long Island has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Heartland BancCorp. First of Long Island is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heartland BancCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.5% of Heartland BancCorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.3% of First of Long Island shares are held by institutional investors. 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of First of Long Island shares are held by company 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.

Dividends

Heartland BancCorp pays an annual dividend of $3.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. First of Long Island pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.3%. Heartland BancCorp pays out 31.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First of Long Island pays out 95.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

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.

About First of Long Island

The First of Long Island Corporation operates as the holding company for The First National Bank of Long Island that provides financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, consumers, municipalities, and other organizations. The company offers business and small business checking, personal checking, negotiable order of withdrawal, interest on lawyer, escrow service, rent security, personal and nonpersonal money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides commercial and residential mortgage, commercial and industrial, small business credit scored, Small Business Administration, construction and land development, consumer, and home equity lines/loans, as well as standby letters of credit; debit or credit cards; and overdraft facilities. In addition, the company offers life insurance, investment management, trust, estate and custody, retail investment, bill payment, lockbox, ACH, safe deposit box rental, wire transfer, money order, checkbook printing, check, ATM, and online and mobile banking services. The First of Long Island Corporation was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.