Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTCMKTS:FMBL) versus KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Head to Head Review

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) and Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTCMKTS:FMBL) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares KBC Group and Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KBC Group	$15.47 billion	1.46	$2.89 billion	$4.28	6.34
Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach	$358.80 million	1.51	$109.00 million	$652.98	6.74

KBC Group has higher revenue and earnings than Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach. KBC Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for KBC Group and Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KBC Group	2	1	0	0	1.33
Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach	0	0	0	0	N/A

KBC Group currently has a consensus target price of $63.80, suggesting a potential upside of 135.29%. Given KBC Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe KBC Group is more favorable than Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach.

Volatility & Risk

KBC Group has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares KBC Group and Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KBC Group	17.25%	15.74%	0.95%
Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach	19.67%	6.28%	0.68%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.6% of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

KBC Group pays an annual dividend of $2.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.1%. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach pays an annual dividend of $112.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. KBC Group pays out 51.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach pays out 17.2% 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.

About KBC Group

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services. It also provides digital and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as KBC Bank and Insurance Holding Company NV and changed its name to KBC Group NV in March 2005. KBC Group NV was incorporated in 1935 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

About Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach provides various banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Barbara Counties. It offers checking, savings, Christmas club savings, health savings, market rate savings, and money market accounts; demand and time deposits; certificates of deposit; and individual retirement account. The company also provides personal, home, commercial real estate, real estate and construction, and commercial business loans, as well as lines of credit; financing for residential loans comprising single-family and multifamily loans; and credit and debit cards. In addition, it offers account management, receivables and payables, and risk management services; commercial lending services; and faith-based and healthcare banking services, as well as online and mobile banking services. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.