Critical Contrast: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) versus DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by institutional investors. 14.5% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

DNB Bank ASA has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DNB Bank ASA	$19.14 billion	2.62	$4.20 billion	$2.80	11.57
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	$114.60 million	2.11	$19.83 million	$3.64	12.18

DNB Bank ASA has higher revenue and earnings than Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina. DNB Bank ASA 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.

Dividends

DNB Bank ASA pays an annual dividend of $1.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. DNB Bank ASA pays out 50.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 23.1% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for DNB Bank ASA and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DNB Bank ASA	3	4	1	0	1.75
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	0	0	0	1	4.00

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DNB Bank ASA	21.34%	13.97%	1.06%
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	17.25%	12.75%	1.15%

Summary

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina beats DNB Bank ASA on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DNB Bank ASA

DNB Bank ASA provides financial services for individual and business customers in Norway and internationally. The company offers savings, current, and pension accounts; fixed rate and security deposits; home and cabin mortgages, car and consumer loans, business loans, and refinancing; car, house, home contents, travel, personal, and non-life insurance product; payment services; and online and mobile banking services, as well as cards. It also provides overdraft facilities; leasing services; factoring, supply chain, and receivable purchase financing services; bank guarantee, secure trading, documentary collection, and letter of credit services; investment banking services, such as mergers and acquisition, equity and debt capital market, shares and securities, mutual funds and trading, and bonds and commodities; and private financing, as well as equity trading, foreign exchange, interest rates, and risk advisory services. In addition, the company offers treasury management, working capital, trade finance, auto lease and equipment financing, and corporate finance services, as well as act as an estate agents. DNB Bank ASA was founded in 1822 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

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.