Head to Head Review: Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE:BHB) & Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI)

Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) and Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE:BHB) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.5% of Bar Harbor Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Bar Harbor Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Bar Harbor Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Glacier Bancorp pays out 71.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bar Harbor Bankshares pays out 44.9% 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. Bar Harbor Bankshares has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Bar Harbor Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Glacier Bancorp and Bar Harbor Bankshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Glacier Bancorp	$836.32 million	5.46	$211.14 million	$1.86	21.63
Bar Harbor Bankshares	$150.40 million	2.92	$43.65 million	$2.85	10.05

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Glacier Bancorp and Bar Harbor Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Glacier Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00
Bar Harbor Bankshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Glacier Bancorp and Bar Harbor Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Glacier Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bar Harbor Bankshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bar Harbor Bankshares has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Glacier Bancorp beats Bar Harbor Bankshares on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot acquisition loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; paycheck protection program loans; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Further, the company provides mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It has 224 locations, including 188 branches and 36 loan or administration offices in 75 counties within 8 states comprising Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.

About Bar Harbor Bankshares

Bar Harbor Bankshares operates as the holding company for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust that provides commercial, lending, retail, and wealth management banking services. It accepts various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans, such as multi-family, commercial construction and land development, and other commercial real estate classes; commercial and industrial loans, including loans to commercial and agricultural businesses, and tax exempt entities; residential real estate loans consists of mortgages for 1-4 family housing; and consumer loans comprises home equity loans, lines of credit, auto, and other installment lending. In addition, it provides life insurance, annuity, and retirement products, as well as financial planning services; and third-party investment and insurance services. Further, the company offers trust and estate administration, wealth advisory, and investment management services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and municipalities; and 401K plan, financial, estate and charitable planning, investment management, family office, municipal, and tax services. It operates 53 locations across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Bar Harbor, Maine.