ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) & UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) Critical Comparison

UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) and ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.8% of UMB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of UMB Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UMB Financial	$4.14 billion	2.39	$702.40 million	$12.01	10.86
ECB Bancorp	$79.51 million	2.29	$7.77 million	$1.37	15.20

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for UMB Financial and ECB Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UMB Financial	0	4	11	1	2.81
ECB Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00

UMB Financial presently has a consensus target price of $164.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.78%. Given UMB Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe UMB Financial is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.

Volatility and Risk

UMB Financial has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UMB Financial	21.64%	13.41%	1.38%
ECB Bancorp	13.19%	6.55%	0.70%

Summary

UMB Financial beats ECB Bancorp on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UMB Financial

UMB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company that provides banking services and asset servicing in the United States and internationally. The Commercial Banking segment provides commercial loans and credit card; commercial real estate financing; letters of credit; loan syndication, and consultative service; various business solutions including asset-based lending, mezzanine debt, and minority equity investment; and treasury management service, such as depository service, account reconciliation, cash management tool, accounts payable and receivable solution, electronic fund transfer and automated payment, controlled disbursement, lockbox service, and remote deposit capture service. The Institutional Banking segment offers fund, asset management, and healthcare service to institutional clients; and fund administration and accounting, investor service and transfer agency, mutual fund service, alternative investment service, fixed income sale, trading and underwriting, and corporate trust and escrow service, as well as institutional custody service. This segment also provides healthcare payment solution includes custodial service for health saving accounts and private label, multipurpose debit cards to insurance carriers, third-party administrator, software companies, employers, and financial institutions. The Personal Banking segment offers deposit account, retail credit card, private banking, installment loan, home equity line of credit, residential mortgage, as well as internet banking, ATM network, private banking, brokerage and insurance service, and investment advisory, custody, and trust services. It operates through a network of branches and offices. The company was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

About ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc. operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, the company invests in securities, consisting primarily of U.S. government and federal agency obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. ECB Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is based in Everett, Massachusetts.