ECB Bancorp (ECBK) and Its Competitors Critical Comparison

ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) is one of 919 public companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare ECB Bancorp to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of ECB Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ECB Bancorp and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
ECB Bancorp	$41.10 million	$7.77 million	13.92
ECB Bancorp Competitors	$223.74 billion	$2.42 billion	21.44

ECB Bancorp’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than ECB Bancorp. ECB Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECB Bancorp’s competitors have a beta of 0.61, indicating that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ECB Bancorp and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ECB Bancorp	13.87%	6.94%	0.75%
ECB Bancorp Competitors	15.63%	9.41%	0.93%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for ECB Bancorp and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ECB Bancorp	0	0	0	1	4.00
ECB Bancorp Competitors	7494	30253	27860	1490	2.35

As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 14.49%. Given ECB Bancorp’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ECB Bancorp has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

ECB Bancorp competitors beat ECB Bancorp on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

About ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECBK) is the holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank, a community-focused savings bank headquartered in Everett, Massachusetts. The bank serves individuals, families and businesses in the Greater Boston area through its branch network and digital banking services. Everett Co-operative Bank offers deposit products such as checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts. Its lending activities include residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, home equity products and consumer loans.