Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ:MSBI) versus ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) Critical Survey

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Midland States Bancorp and ECB Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Midland States Bancorp	1	4	0	0	1.80
ECB Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Midland States Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $20.75, suggesting a potential upside of 29.53%. Given Midland States Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Midland States Bancorp is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Midland States Bancorp	-1.50%	-1.30%	-0.10%
ECB Bancorp	7.29%	3.17%	0.37%

Risk & Volatility

Midland States Bancorp has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.9% of Midland States Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Midland States Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Midland States Bancorp and ECB Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Midland States Bancorp	$489.48 million	0.70	$38.04 million	($0.77)	-20.81
ECB Bancorp	$68.27 million	1.99	$3.99 million	$0.64	23.98

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

Summary

ECB Bancorp beats Midland States Bancorp on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Midland States Bancorp

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for Midland States Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, municipalities, and other entities. It operates through Banking, Wealth Management, and Other segments. The company provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and businesses, including commercial loans to finance agricultural equipment and production; and commercial real estate loans for owner occupied offices, warehouses and production facilities, office buildings, hotels, mixed-use residential and commercial facilities, retail centers, multifamily properties, and assisted living facilities. In addition, it offers construction and land development loans, such as real estate investment properties and residential developments, and lesser extent loans; and residential real estate loans, which includes first and second mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit consisting of loans secured by first or second mortgages on primarily owner occupied primary residences. The company also provides consumer installment loans for the purchase of cars, boats and other recreational vehicles, as well as for the purchase of major appliances and other home improvement projects; and commercial equipment leasing programs for manufacturing, construction, transportation, and healthcare industries. Further, it offers merchant services; deposit products, including checking, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, as well as sweep accounts; letters of credit; and trust and wealth management services, such as financial and estate planning, trustee and custodial, investment management, tax, insurance, and business planning, corporate retirement plan consulting and administration, and retail brokerage services. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Effingham, 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.