Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) and Potomac Bancshares (OTCMKTS:PTBS) Critical Analysis

Potomac Bancshares (OTCMKTS:PTBS) and Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Potomac Bancshares has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Potomac Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Potomac Bancshares pays out 29.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Glacier Bancorp pays out 71.0% 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.3% of Potomac Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of Potomac Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Potomac Bancshares and Glacier Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Potomac Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A
Glacier Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Potomac Bancshares and Glacier Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Potomac Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Glacier Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Potomac Bancshares and Glacier Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Potomac Bancshares	$48.09 million	1.52	$7.34 million	$1.77	9.99
Glacier Bancorp	$836.32 million	5.84	$211.14 million	$1.86	23.12

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

Summary

Glacier Bancorp beats Potomac Bancshares on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Potomac Bancshares

Potomac Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Charles Town that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and individual retirement accounts; and certificates of deposit (CD). It also provides personal loans, including new and used vehicle, home equity, unsecured home improvement and personal, retail equipment, and lot loans, as well as loans secured by CD, and home equity lines of credit; commercial loans for building or office purchases, commercial real estate and construction, and production and administrative equipment purchases; lines of credit; mortgage, commercial, term, residential and commercial construction, commercial real estate, and agricultural loans; and credit and debit cards. In addition, the company offers Card Pay, cash management, merchant, financial planning, trust and estate, investment management, wealth management, full-service brokerage, retirement and insurance planning and products, asset allocation and management, and college planning services, as well as telephone, mobile, and online banking services. Potomac Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1871 and is based in Charles Town, West Virginia.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot acquisition loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; paycheck protection program loans; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Further, the company provides mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It has 224 locations, including 188 branches and 36 loan or administration offices in 75 counties within 8 states comprising Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.