Contrasting Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) & Triumph Financial (NYSE:TFIN)

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) and Triumph Financial (NYSE:TFIN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Peoples Bancorp and Triumph Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Bancorp	0	2	3	1	2.83
Triumph Financial	0	5	2	0	2.29

Peoples Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.81%. Triumph Financial has a consensus price target of $78.80, suggesting a potential upside of 29.04%. Given Triumph Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Triumph Financial is more favorable than Peoples Bancorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.1% of Triumph Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Triumph Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp	19.76%	11.08%	1.41%
Triumph Financial	8.96%	5.57%	0.72%

Volatility and Risk

Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Triumph Financial has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Peoples Bancorp and Triumph Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Bancorp	$618.38 million	2.24	$106.78 million	$3.39	11.39
Triumph Financial	$457.41 million	3.19	$25.36 million	$1.96	31.16

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

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats Triumph Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Triumph Financial

Triumph Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for TBK Bank, SSB that provides various banking and commercial finance products and services to retail customers and small-to-mid-sized businesses in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Banking, Factoring, Payments, and Corporate. It offers depository products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and commercial and industrial loans, loans to purchase capital equipment, and business loans for working capital and operational purposes. The company also provides asset-based, and equipment and premium finance loans; real estate loans to finance commercial properties; to factoring services the transportation and non-transportation sectors; agriculture loans; commercial construction, land, and land development loans; mortgage warehouse loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers debit cards; electronic banking, trust, and treasury management services; and insurance brokerage services. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated through a network of 10 branches in the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area of Iowa and Illinois; 8 branches in northern and central Illinois; 7 branches in southern Colorado; 3 branches in New Mexico; 31 branches in central and eastern Colorado; and 2 branches in far western Kansas, as well as a branch office dedicated to deposit gathering activities in Dallas, Texas. Triumph Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.