National Bankshares (NKSH) Competitors

Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC) and National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, community ranking, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Which has more risk & volatility, HBNC or NKSH?

Horizon Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Bankshares has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in HBNC or NKSH?

64.5% of Horizon Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.7% of National Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Horizon Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of National Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, HBNC or NKSH?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Horizon Bancorp	$203.08M	3.39	$35.43M	$1.02	15.33
National Bankshares	$47.72M	3.61	$7.62M	$1.36	19.88

Does the media refer more to HBNC or NKSH?

In the previous week, Horizon Bancorp had 3 more articles in the media than National Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Horizon Bancorp and 2 mentions for National Bankshares. Horizon Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.67 beat National Bankshares' score of 0.94 indicating that Horizon Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Horizon Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
National Bankshares	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is HBNC or NKSH a better dividend stock?

Horizon Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. National Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Horizon Bancorp pays out 62.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Bankshares pays out 114.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HBNC or NKSH?

Horizon Bancorp received 49 more outperform votes than National Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.41% of users gave Horizon Bancorp an outperform vote while only 48.79% of users gave National Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Horizon Bancorp	Outperform Votes 310 57.41%	Underperform Votes 230 42.59%
National Bankshares	Outperform Votes 261 48.79%	Underperform Votes 274 51.21%

Is HBNC or NKSH more profitable?

Horizon Bancorp has a net margin of 9.86% compared to National Bankshares' net margin of 9.64%. Horizon Bancorp's return on equity of 8.48% beat National Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Horizon Bancorp	9.86%	8.48%	0.79%
National Bankshares	9.64%	5.00%	0.43%

Do analysts prefer HBNC or NKSH?

Horizon Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $17.33, indicating a potential upside of 10.83%. National Bankshares has a consensus price target of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 40.53%. Given National Bankshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe National Bankshares is more favorable than Horizon Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Horizon Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
National Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Horizon Bancorp beats National Bankshares on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.