ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) versus Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) Financial Survey

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Wintrust Financial and ECB Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wintrust Financial	$4.23 billion	2.28	$823.84 million	$12.45	11.51
ECB Bancorp	$79.51 million	2.32	$7.77 million	$1.37	15.42

Wintrust Financial has higher revenue and earnings than ECB Bancorp. Wintrust 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	20.72%	13.37%	1.28%
ECB Bancorp	13.19%	6.55%	0.70%

Risk & Volatility

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Wintrust Financial and ECB Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0	5	9	0	2.64
ECB Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus price target of $176.29, suggesting a potential upside of 23.06%. Given Wintrust Financial’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats ECB Bancorp on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

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.