Contrasting Five Star Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBC) and HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB)

Five Star Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBC) and HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Five Star Bancorp and HomeTrust Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Five Star Bancorp	$255.47 million	4.19	$61.61 million	$3.38	12.92
HomeTrust Bancshares	$292.47 million	2.63	$64.36 million	$3.81	12.08

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

46.9% of Five Star Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.8% of Five Star Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of HomeTrust Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Five Star Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HomeTrust Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Five Star Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. HomeTrust Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Five Star Bancorp pays out 29.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HomeTrust Bancshares pays out 15.7% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Five Star Bancorp and HomeTrust Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Five Star Bancorp	0	3	4	0	2.57
HomeTrust Bancshares	0	2	2	1	2.80

Five Star Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $45.20, indicating a potential upside of 3.52%. HomeTrust Bancshares has a consensus target price of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.00%. Given HomeTrust Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe HomeTrust Bancshares is more favorable than Five Star Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Five Star Bancorp and HomeTrust Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Five Star Bancorp	25.92%	15.92%	1.45%
HomeTrust Bancshares	22.50%	10.88%	1.45%

Summary

HomeTrust Bancshares beats Five Star Bancorp on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Five Star Bancorp

Five Star Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Five Star Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals in Northern California. It accepts various deposits, such as money market accounts, noninterest-bearing and interest checking accounts, savings accounts, term certificate accounts, and time deposits. The company also offers loan products, including commercial and residential real estate loans; commercial loans; commercial land loans; farmland loans; commercial and residential construction loans; and consumer and other loans, as well as operating lines of credit. In addition, it provides debit cards; and remote deposit capture, online and mobile banking, and direct deposit services. Five Star Bancorp was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Rancho Cordova, California.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. Its deposit products include savings, money market, and demand accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The company’s loan portfolio comprises retail consumer loans, such as one-to-four-family real estate lending, home equity lines of credit, construction and land/lots, indirect auto finance, and consumer lending; and commercial loans that include commercial real estate, construction and development, and commercial and industrial loans. It also provides small business administration loans, equipment finance leases, indirect automobile loans, and municipal leases; and cash management and online/mobile banking services. As of June 30, 2021, the company operated 41 offices in North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, East Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia. HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina.