First Bancorp, Inc (ME) (FNLC) Competitors

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

Is PEBO or FNLC more profitable?

Peoples Bancorp has a net margin of 18.10% compared to First Bancorp, Inc (ME)'s net margin of 16.60%. First Bancorp, Inc (ME)'s return on equity of 11.09% beat Peoples Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp	18.10%	10.36%	1.25%
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	16.60%	11.09%	0.89%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in PEBO or FNLC?

60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.4% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, PEBO or FNLC?

Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer PEBO or FNLC?

Peoples Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.75%. Given Peoples Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research 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
Peoples Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is PEBO or FNLC a better dividend stock?

Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Peoples Bancorp pays out 52.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays out 57.4% 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 has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Which has better valuation & earnings, PEBO or FNLC?

Peoples Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Bancorp, Inc (ME). Peoples Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Bancorp, Inc (ME), 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
Peoples Bancorp	$620.14M	1.84	$117.21M	$3.15	10.14
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	$165.19M	1.79	$27.05M	$2.51	10.53

Does the media refer more to PEBO or FNLC?

In the previous week, Peoples Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than First Bancorp, Inc (ME). MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Peoples Bancorp and 1 mentions for First Bancorp, Inc (ME). First Bancorp, Inc (ME)'s average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat Peoples Bancorp's score of -0.27 indicating that First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats First Bancorp, Inc (ME) on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.