FNLC vs. PEBO, CTBI, UVSP, SBSI, HFWA, CPF, MBWM, HAFC, CCNE, and CCBG
Should you be buying First Bancorp, Inc (ME) stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) include Peoples Bancorp (PEBO), Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI), Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (UVSP), Southside Bancshares (SBSI), Heritage Financial (HFWA), CPB (CPF), Mercantile Bank (MBWM), Hanmi Financial (HAFC), CNB Financial (CCNE), and Capital City Bank Group (CCBG). These companies are all part of the "regional banks" industry.
First Bancorp, Inc (ME) vs. Its 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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding FNLC and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NASDAQ:FNLC) was last updated on 10/24/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff