Reviewing Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) & United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI)

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

Volatility & Risk

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bankshares has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of United Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.4% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of United Bankshares shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and United Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	15.27%	12.92%	0.98%
United Bankshares	22.05%	7.58%	1.23%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and United Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	$70.22 million	2.51	$15.55 million	$2.95	10.97
United Bankshares	$1.03 billion	5.04	$366.31 million	$2.64	14.56

United Bankshares 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 United Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 25.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bankshares pays out 56.1% 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 11 consecutive years and United Bankshares has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years. United Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and United Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	0	0	0	0	0.00
United Bankshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

United Bankshares has a consensus price target of $40.25, indicating a potential upside of 4.68%. Given United Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe United Bankshares is more favorable than Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina.

Summary

United Bankshares beats Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts. Its loan products include commercial loans and leases to small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies; construction and real estate loans, such as commercial and residential mortgages, and loans secured by owner-occupied real estate; personal, student, credit card receivables, personal, commercial, and floor plan loans; and home equity loans. In addition, the company provides credit cards; safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, and other banking products and services; investment and security services; services to correspondent banks, including buying and selling federal funds; automated teller machine services; and internet and telephone banking services. Further, it offers community banking services, such as asset management, real property title insurance, financial planning, mortgage banking, and brokerage services, as well as investment management and retirement planning services. United Bankshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.