Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) and Oak Ridge Financial Services (OTCMKTS:BKOR) Head-To-Head Survey

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.8% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.2% of Oak Ridge Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 16.9% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.6% of Oak Ridge Financial Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Oak Ridge Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Oak Ridge Financial Services pays out 22.6% 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. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oak Ridge Financial Services has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Oak Ridge Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	15.49%	12.39%	1.02%
Oak Ridge Financial Services	15.83%	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina and Oak Ridge Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina	$108.45 million	1.57	$16.35 million	$3.11	10.03
Oak Ridge Financial Services	$41.04 million	1.80	$5.67 million	$2.48	10.81

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has higher revenue and earnings than Oak Ridge Financial Services. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Oak Ridge Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina beats Oak Ridge Financial Services on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards. The company also originates commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, construction and land development loans, and residential mortgage loans; and individual taxpayer identification number mortgage loans, as well as agricultural loans. In addition, it provides investment counseling and non-deposit investment products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, tax deferred annuities, and related brokerage services; and real estate appraisal and brokerage services. Further, the company operates as a clearing-house for the provision of appraisal services for community banks; and acquires, manages, and disposes real property, other collateral, and other assets obtained in the ordinary course of collecting debts. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Newton, North Carolina.

About Oak Ridge Financial Services

Oak Ridge Financial Services, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Bank of Oak Ridge that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; overdrafts; auto, home equity, mortgage, business term, and business SBA loans; business lines of credit; credit cards; and online and mobile banking products and services. The company also provides health savings accounts, identity theft protection, wealth management, cash management, and remote deposit capture services; and auto, home, small business, renters, life, boat and watercraft, classic car, motorcycle, flood, pet, and umbrella insurance products. It operates through a network of branches in Oak Ridge, Greensboro, and Summerfield, North Carolina. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Oak Ridge, North Carolina.