Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) versus BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) Critical Comparison

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and BEO Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BEOB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Plumas Bancorp and BEO Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	4	0	3.00
BEO Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Plumas Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $57.67, suggesting a potential upside of 11.03%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than BEO Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and BEO Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plumas Bancorp	26.67%	15.68%	1.80%
BEO Bancorp	N/A	16.83%	1.69%

Risk & Volatility

Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BEO Bancorp has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. BEO Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Plumas Bancorp pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BEO Bancorp pays out 15.1% 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. Plumas Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Plumas Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 9.0% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Plumas Bancorp and BEO Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plumas Bancorp	$112.17 million	3.23	$29.62 million	$4.72	11.00
BEO Bancorp	$59.32 million	2.24	$16.19 million	$13.26	8.28

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

Summary

Plumas Bancorp beats BEO Bancorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

About BEO Bancorp

BEO Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Eastern Oregon that provides commercial and consumer financing, banking and mortgage lending, and other services in Northeastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington. The company offers checking, money market, time deposits, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, agricultural, real estate, installment, credit card, mortgage, term, home, construction, farm, and refinancing loans; lines of credit; home enhancement loan programs; Internet banking and bill payment services; business sweep and banking services; and automated teller machines and safe deposit facilities, as well as originates and sells mortgage loans into the secondary market. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Heppner, Oregon.