South Atlantic Bancshares (OTCMKTS:SABK – Get Free Report) and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.
Dividends
South Atlantic Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. South Atlantic Bancshares pays out 4.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 22.1% 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. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares South Atlantic Bancshares and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| South Atlantic Bancshares | $102.25 million | 1.69 | $15.81 million | $2.10 | 10.95 |
| Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina | $114.60 million | 1.83 | $19.83 million | $3.62 | 10.63 |
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has higher revenue and earnings than South Atlantic Bancshares. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than South Atlantic Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares South Atlantic Bancshares and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| South Atlantic Bancshares | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina | 17.30% | 13.77% | 1.16% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for South Atlantic Bancshares and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| South Atlantic Bancshares | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 |
| Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
13.3% of South Atlantic Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.9% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk and Volatility
South Atlantic Bancshares has a beta of 0.09, suggesting that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina beats South Atlantic Bancshares on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About South Atlantic Bancshares
South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for South Atlantic Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations in South Carolina. The company offers checking, money market, and saving accounts, as well as certificate of deposit, individual retirement, and health saving accounts; personal, auto, and recreation loans, as well as home equity and ready reserve overdraft line of credits, and commercial lending products; and credit cards. It also provides cash management and merchant card services; remote deposit capture and automated clearing house services; online, mobile, and telephone banking services; personal and business checks; mortgage products and services; and wealth management services. The company operates offices in Myrtle Beach, Carolina Forest, North Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Charleston, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and Beaufort, South Carolina. South Atlantic Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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.
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