Meridian Bank (MRBK) Competitors

Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:CBNK) and Meridian Bank (NASDAQ:MRBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and earnings.

Is CBNK or MRBK a better dividend stock?

Capital Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Meridian Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Capital Bancorp pays out 16.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Meridian Bank pays out 35.2% 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. Capital Bancorp has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, CBNK or MRBK?

Capital Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Meridian Bank. Meridian Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Capital 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
Capital Bancorp	$244.71M	2.37	$30.97M	$2.48	14.01
Meridian Bank	$197.37M	0.79	$16.35M	$1.42	9.78

Which has more risk & volatility, CBNK or MRBK?

Capital Bancorp has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Meridian Bank has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CBNK or MRBK?

Capital Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $34.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.72%. Meridian Bank has a consensus target price of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.39%. Given Meridian Bank's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Meridian Bank is more favorable than Capital Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Capital Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Meridian Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is CBNK or MRBK more profitable?

Capital Bancorp has a net margin of 14.43% compared to Meridian Bank's net margin of 8.09%. Capital Bancorp's return on equity of 15.04% beat Meridian Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Capital Bancorp	14.43%	15.04%	1.66%
Meridian Bank	8.09%	9.52%	0.67%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CBNK or MRBK?

56.1% of Capital Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.6% of Meridian Bank shares are held by institutional investors. 31.6% of Capital Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.4% of Meridian Bank shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor CBNK or MRBK?

In the previous week, Capital Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than Meridian Bank. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Capital Bancorp and 1 mentions for Meridian Bank. Capital Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Meridian Bank's score of 1.04 indicating that Capital Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Capital Bancorp	Positive
Meridian Bank	Positive

Summary

Capital Bancorp beats Meridian Bank on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.