Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT) versus Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) Head-To-Head Survey

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) and Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Dividends

Meridian pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Orange County Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Meridian pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Orange County Bancorp pays out 20.3% 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.6% of Meridian shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.5% of Orange County Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.1% of Meridian shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of Orange County Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Meridian and Orange County Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meridian	$205.49 million	1.11	$21.84 million	$2.06	9.25
Orange County Bancorp	$126.56 million	4.08	$41.61 million	$3.55	10.84

Orange County Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Meridian. Meridian is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orange County Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Meridian has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orange County Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Meridian and Orange County Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meridian	1	0	3	0	2.50
Orange County Bancorp	0	1	2	1	3.00

Meridian currently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.49%. Orange County Bancorp has a consensus target price of $43.25, indicating a potential upside of 12.37%. Given Meridian’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Meridian is more favorable than Orange County Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Meridian and Orange County Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meridian	11.89%	12.29%	0.95%
Orange County Bancorp	30.80%	16.44%	1.75%

Summary

Orange County Bancorp beats Meridian on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits. It also provides commercial and industrial loans comprising business lines of credit, term loans, small business lending, lease financing, shared national credits, and other financing; commercial real estate, and land development and construction loans for residential and commercial projects; and consumer and home equity lending, private banking, merchant, and title and land settlement services. In addition, the company operates and originates mortgage loans for 1-4 family dwellings; and offers real estate holding, investment advisory, and equipment leasing services, as well as financial planning and wealth management services. Meridian Corporation was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

About Orange County Bancorp

Orange County Bancorp, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides commercial and consumer banking products and services, and trust and wealth management services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, local municipal governments, and individuals. It accepts various deposits, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate construction loans, residential real estate loans, home equity loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it provides traditional trust and administration, asset management, financial planning, and wealth management services. The company operates full-service branches and loan production office in Orange, Westchester, Rockland, and Bronx counties in New York. Orange County Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Middletown, New York.