Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) vs. Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) Head-To-Head Survey

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) and Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	17.22%	13.07%	1.16%
Republic Bancorp	25.22%	11.32%	1.75%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.5% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 55.9% of Republic Bancorp shares are owned 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 Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Republic Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	0	0	1	0	3.00
Republic Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Republic Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	$114.60 million	2.01	$19.83 million	$3.63	11.60
Republic Bancorp	$521.34 million	3.05	$131.32 million	$6.48	12.49

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

Dividends

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Republic Bancorp pays out 30.6% 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 raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years. Republic Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina on 11 of the 15 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 Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.