Analyzing Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) & John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB)

Premier Financial (NASDAQ:PFC) and John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Premier Financial has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Marshall Bancorp has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Premier Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. John Marshall Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Premier Financial pays out 62.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. John Marshall Bancorp pays out 20.8% 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Premier Financial	16.12%	7.66%	0.87%
John Marshall Bancorp	15.23%	7.20%	0.76%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.1% of Premier Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Premier Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by 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 & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Premier Financial	$243.59 million	4.13	$71.40 million	$1.99	14.09
John Marshall Bancorp	$53.32 million	4.65	$17.12 million	$1.20	14.51

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Premier Financial and John Marshall Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Premier Financial	0	3	1	0	2.25
John Marshall Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Premier Financial presently has a consensus target price of $22.50, indicating a potential downside of 19.76%. Given Premier Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Premier Financial is more favorable than John Marshall Bancorp.

Summary

Premier Financial beats John Marshall Bancorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Premier Financial

Premier Financial Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking services. It offers demand, checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposits and certificates of deposit account registry service; and investment products. The company also provides residential and commercial real estate, commercial, construction, home improvement and home equity, installment, and consumer loans. In addition, it invests in the U.S. treasury and federal government agency obligations, obligations of states and political subdivisions, mortgage-backed securities that are issued by federal agencies, residential collateralized mortgage obligations, and corporate bonds. Further, the company offers property and casualty, life, and group health insurance agency services; mezzanine funding services; and digital banking services, which include mobile banking, zelle, online bill pay, and online account opening, as well as the MoneyPass ATM network. It operates in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The company was formerly known as First Defiance Financial Corp. and changed its name to Premier Financial Corp. in June 2020. Premier Financial Corp. was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Defiance, Ohio.

About John Marshall Bancorp

John Marshall Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for John Marshall Bank that provides banking products and financial services. The company accepts checking, demand, NOW, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers residential and commercial construction and development loans, commercial term, mortgage, commercial real estate, industrial loans, and other commercial lines of credit; debit and credit cards; and treasury and cash management, investment, business and personal insurance, remote deposit capture, deposit sweep and online and mobile banking services. The company serves small to medium-sized businesses, their owners and employees, professional corporations, non-profits, and individuals. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.