Meridian Bank (MRBK) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend CBNK or MRBK?

Capital Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $34.50, indicating a potential downside of 2.84%. Meridian Bank has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.33%. Given Meridian Bank's higher possible upside, analysts plainly 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

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 company insiders. Comparatively, 14.4% of Meridian Bank shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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 1.1%. Meridian Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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 raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

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%

Which has more volatility and risk, CBNK or MRBK?

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

Does the media refer more to CBNK or MRBK?

In the previous week, Meridian Bank had 2 more articles in the media than Capital Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Meridian Bank and 3 mentions for Capital Bancorp. Meridian Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.04 beat Capital Bancorp's score of 0.67 indicating that Meridian Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Capital Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Meridian Bank	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, 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	2.42	$30.97M	$2.48	14.32
Meridian Bank	$197.37M	0.81	$16.35M	$1.42	10.03

Summary

Capital Bancorp beats Meridian Bank on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.