Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) versus BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) Financial Analysis

BayFirst Financial (NASDAQ:BAFN) and Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and dividends.

Dividends

BayFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. BayFirst Financial pays out 14.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Bancorp pays out 52.1% 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.

Risk & Volatility

BayFirst Financial has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BayFirst Financial and Peoples Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BayFirst Financial	$80.46 million	0.75	$12.60 million	$2.24	6.54
Peoples Bancorp	$444.62 million	2.30	$117.21 million	$3.15	9.09

Peoples Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than BayFirst Financial. BayFirst Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Peoples Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for BayFirst Financial and Peoples Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BayFirst Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Peoples Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

Peoples Bancorp has a consensus price target of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.70%. Given Peoples Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Peoples Bancorp is more favorable than BayFirst Financial.

Profitability

This table compares BayFirst Financial and Peoples Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BayFirst Financial	8.80%	14.81%	1.05%
Peoples Bancorp	18.90%	11.07%	1.31%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.9% of BayFirst Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 18.8% of BayFirst Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Peoples Bancorp 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.

Summary

Peoples Bancorp beats BayFirst Financial on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BayFirst Financial

BayFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for BayFirst National Bank that provides community banking services for businesses and individuals. The company offers checking, savings, NOW, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement account; and safety deposit boxes. It also provides commercial real estate mortgages; construction and development, working capital, and business loans; auto, boat, and recreational vehicle loans; and residential mortgages, personal lines of credit, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers mobile and online banking, treasury management, wire transfers, cash management, merchant processing, remote deposit capture, night depositor, online bill payment, courier, retail investment, ACH originations, and other services. It operates full-service banking centers in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Sarasota, Tampa, Belleair Bluffs, and Bradenton, Florida. The company was formerly known as First Home Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to BayFirst Financial Corp. in May 2021. BayFirst Financial Corp. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; safe deposit rental facilities; money orders and cashier’s checks; and telephone, mobile, and online banking services. In addition, the company provides various life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; third-party insurance administration; interactive teller machines; insurance premium financing; check deposit and alert notification; commercial and technology equipment leasing; fiduciary and trust; underwriting, origination, and servicing of equipment leases, and equipment financing agreements; and asset management and administration services, as well as employee benefit, retirement, and health care plan administration services. Further, it offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealers; insurance premium finance lending and leasing; and credit cards to individuals and businesses, as well as provides merchant credit card transaction processing, and person-to-person payment processing services. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Marietta, Ohio.