First Bancorp, Inc (ME) (FNLC) Competitors

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

Is FNLC or PEBO more profitable?

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has a net margin of 17.94% compared to Peoples Bancorp's net margin of 16.57%. First Bancorp, Inc (ME)'s return on equity of 12.15% beat Peoples Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	17.94%	12.15%	0.99%
Peoples Bancorp	16.57%	9.45%	1.15%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FNLC or PEBO?

40.4% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% 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.

Do analysts prefer FNLC or PEBO?

Peoples Bancorp has a consensus price target of $33.13, suggesting a potential upside of 13.99%. Given Peoples Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than First Bancorp, Inc (ME).

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Peoples Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the media prefer FNLC or PEBO?

In the previous week, Peoples Bancorp had 28 more articles in the media than First Bancorp, Inc (ME). MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Peoples Bancorp and 2 mentions for First Bancorp, Inc (ME). First Bancorp, Inc (ME)'s average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Peoples Bancorp's score of 0.93 indicating that First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Peoples Bancorp	6 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, FNLC or PEBO?

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, FNLC or PEBO?

Peoples Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Bancorp, Inc (ME). First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Peoples 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, Inc (ME)	$165.19M	1.71	$27.05M	$2.68	9.43
Peoples Bancorp	$620.14M	1.67	$117.21M	$2.86	10.16

Is FNLC or PEBO a better dividend stock?

First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays out 55.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp pays out 57.3% 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. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Peoples Bancorp has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats First Bancorp, Inc (ME) on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.