Contrasting Provident Bancorp (NASDAQ:PVBC) & S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA)

Provident Bancorp (NASDAQ:PVBC) and S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Provident Bancorp and S&T Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Provident Bancorp	11.26%	4.60%	0.66%
S&T Bancorp	23.39%	9.32%	1.35%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Provident Bancorp and S&T Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Provident Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
S&T Bancorp	0	3	0	0	2.00

Provident Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $12.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.03%. S&T Bancorp has a consensus price target of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.38%. Given S&T Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe S&T Bancorp is more favorable than Provident Bancorp.

Volatility and Risk

Provident Bancorp has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, S&T Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.6% of Provident Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Provident Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of S&T Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Provident Bancorp and S&T Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Provident Bancorp	$95.37 million	2.35	$7.27 million	$0.63	20.05
S&T Bancorp	$564.96 million	2.58	$131.26 million	$3.41	11.16

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

Summary

S&T Bancorp beats Provident Bancorp on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Provident Bancorp

Provident Bancorp, Inc. is a Maryland corporation that was formed in 2019 to be the successor corporation to Provident Bancorp, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, and the holding company for The Provident Bank. The Provident Bank, a subsidiary of Provident Bancorp, Inc. is an innovative, commercial bank that finds solutions for its business and private clients.

About S&T Bancorp

S&T Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of consumer, commercial, and small business banking services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial and Industrial, Commercial Construction, Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate, and Other Consumer. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes both owner-occupied properties and investment properties for various purposes such as hotels, retail, multifamily and health care. The Commercial and Industrial segment focuses on the companies or manufacturers for the purpose of production, operating capacity, accounts receivable, inventory or equipment financing. The Commercial Construction segment refers to the finance construction of buildings or other structures, as well as to finance the acquisition and development of raw land for various purposes. The Business Banking segment is made to small businesses that are standard, non-complex products evaluated through a streamlined credit approval process that has been designed to maximize efficiency while maintaining high credit quality standards. The Consumer Real Estate segment offers first and second liens such as 1-4 family residential mortgages, home equity loans and home equity lines of credit. The Other Consumer segment consists of individuals that may be secured by assets other than 1-4 family residences, as well as unsecured loans. The company was founded on March 17, 1983 and is headquartered in Indiana, PA.