Head-To-Head Analysis: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) vs. Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV)

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) and Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.8% of Synovus Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 16.9% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Synovus Financial shares are held by company 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 Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Synovus Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	0	1	0	0	2.00
Synovus Financial	0	8	8	0	2.50

Synovus Financial has a consensus price target of $58.33, indicating a potential upside of 18.95%. Given Synovus Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Synovus Financial is more favorable than Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina.

Profitability

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Synovus Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	15.11%	12.17%	1.00%
Synovus Financial	21.97%	16.13%	1.33%

Risk & Volatility

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Synovus Financial has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Synovus Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 26.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Synovus Financial pays out 29.1% 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. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Synovus Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Synovus Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	$73.46 million	2.42	$16.35 million	$3.06	10.63
Synovus Financial	$2.36 billion	2.89	$482.46 million	$5.36	9.15

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

Summary

Synovus Financial beats Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards. The company also originates commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, construction and land development loans, and residential mortgage loans; and individual taxpayer identification number mortgage loans, as well as agricultural loans. In addition, it provides investment counseling and non-deposit investment products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, tax deferred annuities, and related brokerage services; and real estate appraisal and brokerage services. Further, the company operates as a clearing-house for the provision of appraisal services for community banks; and acquires, manages, and disposes real property, other collateral, and other assets obtained in the ordinary course of collecting debts. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Newton, North Carolina.

About Synovus Financial

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services. Its consumer banking services comprise accepting customary types of demand and savings deposits accounts; mortgage, installment, and other consumer loans; investment and brokerage services; safe deposit services; automated banking services; automated fund transfers; internet-based banking services; and bank credit and debit card services, including Visa and MasterCard services. The company also offers various other financial services, including portfolio management for fixed-income securities, investment banking, execution of securities transactions as a broker/dealer, trust management, and financial planning services, as well as provides individual investment advice on equity and other securities. The company was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.