John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) and Peoples Financial (OTCMKTS:PFBX) Critical Survey

John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) and Peoples Financial (OTCMKTS:PFBX) 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, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for John Marshall Bancorp and Peoples Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Marshall Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
Peoples Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

John Marshall Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.00%. Given John Marshall Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe John Marshall Bancorp is more favorable than Peoples Financial.

Profitability

This table compares John Marshall Bancorp and Peoples Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Marshall Bancorp	18.41%	8.31%	0.93%
Peoples Financial	12.85%	4.03%	0.49%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

39.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.8% of Peoples Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.1% of Peoples Financial shares are owned 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares John Marshall Bancorp and Peoples Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Marshall Bancorp	$115.33 million	2.46	$21.23 million	$1.50	13.33
Peoples Financial	$40.11 million	2.42	$3.91 million	$0.85	24.72

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

Dividends

John Marshall Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Peoples Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. John Marshall Bancorp pays out 24.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Peoples Financial pays out 42.4% 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. John Marshall Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

John Marshall Bancorp has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peoples Financial has a beta of 0.26, meaning that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

John Marshall Bancorp beats Peoples Financial on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About John Marshall Bancorp

John Marshall Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for John Marshall Bank. The Bank is headquartered in Reston, Virginia with eight full-service branches located in Alexandria, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William, Reston, and Tysons, Virginia, as well as Rockville, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The Bank is dedicated to providing exceptional value, personalized service and convenience to local businesses and professionals in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. The Bank offers a comprehensive line of sophisticated banking products and services that rival those of the largest banks along with experienced staff to help achieve customers’ financial goals. Dedicated relationship managers serve as direct points-of-contact, providing subject matter expertise in a variety of niche industries including charter and private schools, government contractors, health services, nonprofits and associations, professional services, property management companies and title companies

About Peoples Financial

Peoples Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for The Peoples Bank that provides banking, financial, and trust services to government entities, individuals, and small and commercial businesses in Mississippi. The company accepts various deposits, such as interest and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). It offers business, commercial, real estate, construction, personal, and installment loans; and personal trust, agencies, and estate services, including living and testamentary trusts, executorships, guardianships, and conservatorships. In addition, the company provides self-directed IRAs; and escrow management, stock transfer, and bond paying agency accounts to corporate customers. Further, it offers other services consisting of safe deposit box rental, wire transfer, night drop facilities, collection, cash management, and Internet banking services. the company provides services to customers of various industries, such as seafood, retail, hospitality, hotel/motel, gaming, and construction. Peoples Financial Corporation was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi.