Head-To-Head Survey: First of Long Island (NASDAQ:FLIC) & Heartland BancCorp (OTCMKTS:HLAN)

First of Long Island (NASDAQ:FLIC) and Heartland BancCorp (OTCMKTS:HLAN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Risk and Volatility

First of Long Island has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heartland BancCorp has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First of Long Island and Heartland BancCorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First of Long Island	$86.16 million	2.89	$26.24 million	$0.88	12.55
Heartland BancCorp	$104.83 million	2.83	$19.52 million	$9.74	15.00

First of Long Island has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Heartland BancCorp. First of Long Island is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heartland BancCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares First of Long Island and Heartland BancCorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First of Long Island	11.15%	5.49%	0.49%
Heartland BancCorp	17.89%	N/A	N/A

Dividends

First of Long Island pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. Heartland BancCorp pays an annual dividend of $3.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. First of Long Island pays out 95.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Heartland BancCorp pays out 31.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

48.3% of First of Long Island shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.5% of Heartland BancCorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.3% of First of Long Island shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for First of Long Island and Heartland BancCorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First of Long Island	0	1	0	0	2.00
Heartland BancCorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

First of Long Island currently has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.75%. Heartland BancCorp has a consensus target price of $122.50, suggesting a potential downside of 16.14%. Given First of Long Island’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First of Long Island is more favorable than Heartland BancCorp.

About First of Long Island

The First of Long Island Corporation operates as the holding company for The First National Bank of Long Island that provides financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, consumers, municipalities, and other organizations. The company offers business and small business checking, personal checking, negotiable order of withdrawal, interest on lawyer, escrow service, rent security, personal and nonpersonal money market, savings, time deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides commercial and residential mortgage, commercial and industrial, small business credit scored, Small Business Administration, construction and land development, consumer, and home equity lines/loans, as well as standby letters of credit; debit or credit cards; and overdraft facilities. In addition, the company offers life insurance, investment management, trust, estate and custody, retail investment, bill payment, lockbox, ACH, safe deposit box rental, wire transfer, money order, checkbook printing, check, ATM, and online and mobile banking services. The First of Long Island Corporation was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.

About Heartland BancCorp

Heartland BancCorp operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank that provides various banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts. It also provides various lending solutions comprising agricultural loans, commercial and business lending, home and personal loans, and title services. In addition, the company offers online banking, treasury management, credit and debit card, and mobile wallet services. Further, it provides education planning, insurance, wealth management, and retirement planning services. Heartland BancCorp was founded in 1911 and is based in Whitehall, Ohio.