Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) & Park National (NYSE:PRK) Head to Head Analysis

Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) and Park National (NYSE:PRK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.0% of Hanover Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of Park National shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.4% of Hanover Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Park National shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Hanover Bancorp and Park National, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hanover Bancorp	0	1	2	1	3.00
Park National	0	5	0	0	2.00

Hanover Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $28.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.42%. Park National has a consensus price target of $200.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.60%. Given Hanover Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Hanover Bancorp is more favorable than Park National.

Risk & Volatility

Hanover Bancorp has a beta of 0.11, meaning that its stock price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Park National has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and Park National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hanover Bancorp	6.71%	6.00%	0.50%
Park National	23.46%	12.31%	1.50%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and Park National”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hanover Bancorp	$143.32 million	1.21	$7.49 million	$1.27	19.28
Park National	$623.80 million	5.11	$151.42 million	$11.17	15.80

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

Dividends

Hanover Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Park National pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Hanover Bancorp pays out 31.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Park National pays out 39.4% 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. Park National has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Park National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Park National beats Hanover Bancorp on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hanover Bancorp

Hanover Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company for Hanover Community Bank, provides personal and business lending and deposit services to businesses, municipalities, and individuals in the New York metro area. The company offers checking, credit cards, debit cards, money market, savings, government and municipal banking, and professional services, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, small business administration, lending directory services, and residential mortgage. In addition, the company offers cash management, online and mobile banking, merchant services, and digital solutions. Its banking offices are located in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, New York Counties, New York, Monmouth County, Freehold, and New Jersey. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Mineola, New York.

About Park National

Park National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Park National Bank that provides commercial banking and trust services in small and medium population areas. The company offers deposits for demand, savings, and time accounts; trust and wealth management services; cash management services; safe deposit operations; electronic funds transfers; Internet and mobile banking solutions with bill pay service; credit cards; and various additional banking-related services. It also provides commercial loans, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, financing for equipment, inventory and accounts receivable, acquisition financing, and commercial leasing, as well as for consumer finance companies; commercial real estate loans comprising mortgage loans to developers and owners of commercial real estate; originates financing leases primarily for the purchase of commercial vehicles, operating/manufacturing equipment, and municipal vehicles/equipment; consumer loans, such as automobile loans; consumer finance services; home equity lines of credit; and residential real estate and construction loans, as well as installment loans and commercial loans. In addition, the company offers aircraft financing services; and ParkDirect, a personal banking application. Park National Corporation was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Newark, Ohio.