Critical Contrast: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) vs. Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

45.8% of Bank Of Montreal shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Bank Of Montreal shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.5% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Bank Of Montreal pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Bank Of Montreal pays out 54.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 20.9% 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. Bank Of Montreal has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Bank Of Montreal is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bank Of Montreal and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank Of Montreal	$38.50 billion	3.12	$6.22 billion	$8.86	19.52
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	$114.60 million	2.12	$19.83 million	$4.02	11.07

Bank Of Montreal 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 Bank Of Montreal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Bank Of Montreal has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.3, indicating that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Bank Of Montreal and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank Of Montreal	1	6	6	0	2.38
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	0	0	0	1	4.00

Bank Of Montreal presently has a consensus target price of $244.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.06%. Given Bank Of Montreal’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank Of Montreal is more favorable than Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank Of Montreal	11.72%	13.60%	0.71%
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	18.93%	13.84%	1.27%

Summary

Bank Of Montreal beats Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank Of Montreal

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian P&C, U.S P&C, BMO Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets segments. The company’s personal banking products and services include deposits, mortgages, home lending, consumer credit, small business lending, credit cards, cash management, financial and investment advice, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services comprise various of financing options and treasury and payment solutions, as well as risk management products. It also offers investing, banking, and wealth management advisory; digital investing services; financial solutions for individuals, families, and businesses; provides investment management services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors; and diversified insurance, and wealth and pension de-risking solutions. In addition, the company provides individual life, critical illness and annuity products, as well as segregated funds, and group creditor and travel insurance to customers; debt and equity capital-raising, loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, treasury management, mergers and acquisitions advice, restructurings and recapitalizations, trade finance, and risk mitigation services, as well as a range of banking and other operating services. Further, the company offers research and access to financial markets for institutional, corporate and retail clients through an integrated suite of sales and trading solutions related to debt, foreign exchange, interest rates, credit, equities, securitization, and commodities; provides new product development and origination services, as well as risk management and advisory services for hedging strategies, including in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and commodities prices; and funding and liquidity management services. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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.