Head to Head Review: Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTCMKTS:FMBL) versus Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI)

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.6% of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach pays an annual dividend of $112.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Glacier Bancorp pays out 64.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach pays out 26.1% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Glacier Bancorp 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
Glacier Bancorp	17.52%	7.11%	0.85%
Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach	12.08%	3.84%	0.46%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Glacier Bancorp and Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Glacier Bancorp	0	1	0	1	3.00
Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach	0	0	0	0	0.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Glacier Bancorp 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
Glacier Bancorp	$921.82 million	5.98	$190.14 million	$2.04	20.80
Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach	$459.33 million	2.08	$44.88 million	$428.48	18.30

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

Summary

Glacier Bancorp beats Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot acquisition loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; paycheck protection program loans; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Further, the company provides mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It has 224 locations, including 188 branches and 36 loan or administration offices in 75 counties within 8 states comprising Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.

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.