First Bancorp (FNLC) Competitors

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) and Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, profitability, community ranking, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Is FNLC or PEBO a better dividend stock?

First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. First Bancorp pays out 59.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp pays out 48.3% 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.

Do analysts rate FNLC or PEBO?

Peoples Bancorp has a consensus target price of $36.90, indicating a potential upside of 23.29%. Given Peoples Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Peoples Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has more volatility and risk, FNLC or PEBO?

First Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FNLC or PEBO?

Peoples Bancorp received 83 more outperform votes than First Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.30% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 56.06% of users gave Peoples Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 190 62.30%	Underperform Votes 115 37.70%
Peoples Bancorp	Outperform Votes 273 56.06%	Underperform Votes 214 43.94%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in FNLC or PEBO?

40.4% of First Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of First Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Peoples Bancorp 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.

Does the media favor FNLC or PEBO?

In the previous week, First Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than Peoples Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for First Bancorp and 1 mentions for Peoples Bancorp. Peoples Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat First Bancorp's score of 0.90 indicating that Peoples Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Peoples Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FNLC or PEBO more profitable?

Peoples Bancorp has a net margin of 18.90% compared to First Bancorp's net margin of 16.37%. Peoples Bancorp's return on equity of 11.07% beat First Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancorp	16.37%	10.90%	0.88%
Peoples Bancorp	18.90%	11.07%	1.31%

Which has better earnings and valuation, FNLC or PEBO?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancorp	$80.50M	3.46	$27.05M	$2.42	10.28
Peoples Bancorp	$443.83M	2.41	$117.21M	$3.31	9.04

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats First Bancorp on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.