Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) versus Westbury Bancorp (OTCMKTS:WBBW) Critical Review

Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) and Westbury Bancorp (OTCMKTS:WBBW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Meridian Bank and Westbury Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meridian Bank	0	0	3	0	3.00
Westbury Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Meridian Bank presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.37%. Given Meridian Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Meridian Bank is more favorable than Westbury Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Meridian Bank and Westbury Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meridian Bank	10.63%	11.81%	0.86%
Westbury Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.6% of Meridian Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Westbury Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.4% of Meridian Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.9% of Westbury Bancorp shares are owned 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Meridian Bank and Westbury Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meridian Bank	$205.49 million	1.18	$21.84 million	$1.89	10.84
Westbury Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Meridian Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Westbury Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

Meridian Bank has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westbury Bancorp has a beta of -0.21, indicating that its share price is 121% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Meridian Bank beats Westbury Bancorp on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Meridian Bank

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits. It also provides commercial and industrial loans comprising business lines of credit, term loans, small business lending, lease financing, shared national credits, and other financing; commercial real estate, and land development and construction loans for residential and commercial projects; and consumer and home equity lending, private banking, merchant, and title and land settlement services. In addition, the company operates and originates mortgage loans for 1-4 family dwellings; and offers real estate holding, investment advisory, and equipment leasing services, as well as financial planning and wealth management services. Meridian Corporation was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

About Westbury Bancorp

Westbury Bancorp, Inc. operates as a holding company for Westbury Bank that provides various community banking and financial products and services for individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and term certificate accounts; personal, mortgage, one-to four-family residential real estate, multi-family, commercial business, loans, commercial real estate loans, and construction loans; credit cards; and online and mobile banking services. Westbury Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin.