Head-To-Head Analysis: Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) and California Business Bank (OTCMKTS:CABB)

California Business Bank (OTCMKTS:CABB) and Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares California Business Bank and Peoples Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California Business Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Peoples Bancorp	$445.03 million	2.40	$113.36 million	$3.34	9.01

Peoples Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than California Business Bank.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for California Business Bank and Peoples Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California Business Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A
Peoples Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25

Peoples Bancorp has a consensus target price of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.00%. Given Peoples Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than California Business Bank.

Risk & Volatility

California Business Bank has a beta of 0.05, meaning that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California Business Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Peoples Bancorp	20.58%	12.76%	1.46%

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats California Business Bank on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About California Business Bank

California Business Bank provides various financial products and services for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The company offers various personal and business deposit products; and business and commercial loans comprising SBA, commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate loans. It also provides online and mobile banking, mobile deposit, bill pay, and other services. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

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.