Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) versus Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) Head to Head Analysis

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and Hawthorn Bancshares (NASDAQ:HWBK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Nicolet Bankshares and Hawthorn Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nicolet Bankshares	21.89%	11.48%	1.59%
Hawthorn Bancshares	22.14%	15.01%	1.33%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nicolet Bankshares	$556.52 million	5.34	$150.69 million	$8.53	16.39
Hawthorn Bancshares	$111.97 million	2.28	$23.80 million	$3.64	10.15

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

Risk and Volatility

Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawthorn Bancshares has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Nicolet Bankshares and Hawthorn Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nicolet Bankshares	1	0	5	0	2.67
Hawthorn Bancshares	0	1	0	0	2.00

Nicolet Bankshares presently has a consensus target price of $176.50, suggesting a potential upside of 26.26%. Given Nicolet Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Nicolet Bankshares is more favorable than Hawthorn Bancshares.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.7% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.9% of Hawthorn Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Hawthorn Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 15.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hawthorn Bancshares pays out 23.1% 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. Nicolet Bankshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Hawthorn Bancshares has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Hawthorn Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats Hawthorn Bancshares on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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.