Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF) and Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) Financial Analysis

Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF) and Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Mvb Financial and Hawthorn Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mvb Financial	15.34%	3.81%	0.38%
Hawthorn Bancshares	20.09%	14.49%	1.19%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

52.7% of Mvb Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.7% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.7% of Mvb Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Mvb Financial has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawthorn Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Mvb Financial and Hawthorn Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mvb Financial	1	1	5	0	2.57
Hawthorn Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00

Mvb Financial presently has a consensus target price of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.06%. Given Mvb Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Mvb Financial is more favorable than Hawthorn Bancshares.

Dividends

Mvb Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Hawthorn Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Mvb Financial pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hawthorn Bancshares pays out 25.1% 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. Hawthorn Bancshares has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mvb Financial	$228.76 million	1.49	$20.09 million	$2.46	11.03
Hawthorn Bancshares	$78.00 million	2.98	$18.26 million	$3.19	10.56

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

Summary

Mvb Financial beats Hawthorn Bancshares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mvb Financial

MVB Financial Corp. operates as bank holding company for MVB Bank, Inc that provides financial services to individuals and corporate clients. The company operates through three segments: CoRe Banking, Mortgage Banking, and The Financial Holding Company. It offers various demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. The company also provides debit cards; cashier's checks; safe deposit rental facilities; and non-deposit investment services, as well as financial technology (Fintech) banking services. In addition, it offers fintech solutions for the gaming, payments, banking-as-a-service, and digital asset sectors; fraud prevention services for merchants, credit agencies, Fintech companies, and other vendors; and digital products and web and mobile applications for forward-thinking community banks, credit unions, digital banks, and Fintech companies. It operates full-service branches in West Virginia and Virginia. MVB Financial Corp. was founded in 1997 and is based in Fairmont, West Virginia.

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.