Analyzing Partners Bancorp (NASDAQ:PTRS) and Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC)

Partners Bancorp (NASDAQ:PTRS) and Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

Partners Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Partners Bancorp pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plumas Bancorp pays out 19.8% 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. Partners Bancorp has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Plumas Bancorp has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Plumas Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Partners Bancorp and Plumas Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Partners Bancorp	$67.86 million	1.88	$13.61 million	$0.88	8.07
Plumas Bancorp	$70.81 million	2.84	$26.44 million	$5.06	6.76

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

Volatility and Risk

Partners Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Partners Bancorp	19.99%	11.16%	1.02%
Plumas Bancorp	36.09%	24.24%	1.90%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Partners Bancorp and Plumas Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Partners Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00

Plumas Bancorp has a consensus price target of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.11%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than Partners Bancorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.6% of Partners Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.4% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 45.0% of Partners Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.8% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Plumas Bancorp beats Partners Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Partners Bancorp

Partners Bancorp operates as the holding company for the Bank of Delmarva that provides financial services to individual and corporate customers in the United States. It offers business and personal checking, money market, NOW, IRA, savings, cash management, and time deposit accounts, as well as remote deposit capture and mobile deposit services. The company also provides commercial real estate, small business administration, term, purchase and refinance mortgage, bridge, equipment, home equity, agriculture, car, unsecured consumer, construction/permanent mortgage, and lot loans, as well as mobile home, boat, RV, and motorcycle loans; lines of credit; and business credit cards. In addition, it offers online bill payment, automated teller machine/debit card, merchant, transfer, cash advance and management, sweep, cash concentration, payroll direct deposit, and ACH origination services, as well as phone, mobile, and internet banking services. The company was formerly known as Delmar Bancorp and changed its name to Partners Bancorp in August 2020. Partners Bancorp was founded in 1896 and is based in Salisbury, Maryland.

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 includes 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 incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.