Reviewing Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) and Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) and Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Popular and Peoples Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Popular	$2.71 billion	2.73	$541.34 million	$6.74	15.14
Peoples Bancorp	$445.03 million	2.49	$113.36 million	$3.34	9.36

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

Dividends

Popular pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Popular pays out 36.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp pays out 47.9% 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Popular	12.20%	11.73%	0.83%
Peoples Bancorp	20.58%	12.76%	1.46%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.3% of Popular shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Popular shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by company 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Popular and Peoples Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Popular	0	2	6	0	2.75
Peoples Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25

Popular currently has a consensus price target of $110.38, indicating a potential upside of 8.20%. Peoples Bancorp has a consensus price target of $34.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.56%. Given Peoples Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than Popular.

Volatility and Risk

Popular has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Popular beats Peoples Bancorp on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Popular

Popular, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial multi-family, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage loans; consumer loans, including personal loans, credit cards, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, and other loans to individual borrowers; construction loans; and lease financing comprising automobile loans/leases. In addition, the company provides investment banking, auto and equipment leasing and financing, broker-dealer, and insurance services; debit cards; and online banking services. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

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.