Critical Survey: Harleysville Financial (OTCMKTS:HARL) and Landmark Bancorp (NASDAQ:LARK)

Volatility & Risk

Landmark Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Harleysville Financial has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Landmark Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Harleysville Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Landmark Bancorp pays out 37.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Harleysville Financial pays out 51.0% 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Landmark Bancorp and Harleysville Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Landmark Bancorp	$77.91 million	1.71	$12.24 million	$2.26	10.69
Harleysville Financial	$40.39 million	2.03	$2.05 million	$2.43	9.25

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

Profitability

This table compares Landmark Bancorp and Harleysville Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Landmark Bancorp	14.36%	9.48%	0.79%
Harleysville Financial	22.05%	10.38%	1.03%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

25.7% of Landmark Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of Harleysville Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 17.2% of Landmark Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.5% of Harleysville Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Landmark Bancorp beats Harleysville Financial on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Landmark Bancorp

Landmark Bancorp, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Landmark National Bank that provides various financial and banking services to its local communities. It offers non-interest bearing demand, money market, checking, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides one-to-four family residential real estate, construction and land, commercial real estate, commercial, paycheck protection program, municipal, and agriculture loans; and consumer and other loans, such as automobile, boat, and home improvement and home equity loans, as well as insurance, and mobile and online banking services. In addition, the company invests in certain investment and mortgage-related securities. It operates in the eastern, central, southeast, and southwest Kansas. The company was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas.

About Harleysville Financial

Harleysville Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Harleysville Bank that provides various banking products and services in Pennsylvania. The company offers various deposit products, including savings, money market, and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. It also provides consumer loans, including residential mortgages, savings account loans, and home equity line of credit, construction, and non-real estate consumer loans; and commercial loans, such as commercial mortgages, line of credit, and commercial business loans. In addition, the company offers online banking and bill payment, mobile and telephone banking, remote deposit, debit cards, automated clearing house processing, sweep accounts, zero balance accounts, employee services, and other cash management services. Further, it provides investment services, such as financial consultation, cash and wealth management, education planning, investment strategy, insurance, retirement and estate planning, financial and goal planning, and asset allocation services, as well as offers investment products, such as fixed and variable annuities, mutual funds, life insurances, stocks and bonds, tax-advantaged investments, long-term care insurances, disability insurances, retirement plans/individual retirement accounts, wrap accounts, and unit investment trusts. Its primary market area includes Montgomery County and Bucks County. The company was formerly known as Harleysville Savings Financial Corporation and changed its name to Harleysville Financial Corporation in May 2017. Harleysville Financial Corporation was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Harleysville, Pennsylvania.