Comparing Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) & ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK)

ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) and Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for ECB Bancorp and Peoples Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ECB Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00
Peoples Bancorp	0	3	3	0	2.50

Peoples Bancorp has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.50%. Given Peoples Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ECB Bancorp and Peoples Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ECB Bancorp	$38.81 million	4.78	$7.77 million	$1.37	15.48
Peoples Bancorp	$458.86 million	3.12	$106.78 million	$3.31	12.03

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ECB Bancorp and Peoples Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ECB Bancorp	13.19%	6.55%	0.70%
Peoples Bancorp	19.17%	10.71%	1.35%

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats ECB Bancorp on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc. operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, the company invests in securities, consisting primarily of U.S. government and federal agency obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. ECB Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is based in Everett, Massachusetts.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; safe deposit rental facilities; money orders and cashier’s checks; and telephone, mobile, and online banking services. In addition, the company provides various life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; third-party insurance administration; interactive teller machines; insurance premium financing; check deposit and alert notification; commercial and technology equipment leasing; fiduciary and trust; underwriting, origination, and servicing of equipment leases, and equipment financing agreements; and asset management and administration services, as well as employee benefit, retirement, and health care plan administration services. Further, it offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealers; insurance premium finance lending and leasing; and credit cards to individuals and businesses, as well as provides merchant credit card transaction processing, and person-to-person payment processing services. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Marietta, Ohio.