Financial Contrast: Princeton Bancorp (NASDAQ:BPRN) & ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB)

Princeton Bancorp (NASDAQ:BPRN) and ConnectOne Bancorp (NASDAQ:CNOB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.4% of Princeton Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of ConnectOne Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 23.1% of Princeton Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of ConnectOne Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Princeton Bancorp has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ConnectOne Bancorp has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Princeton Bancorp and ConnectOne Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Princeton Bancorp	$139.02 million	1.73	$18.61 million	$2.86	12.33
ConnectOne Bancorp	$679.93 million	2.20	$80.44 million	$1.73	17.20

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Princeton Bancorp and ConnectOne Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Princeton Bancorp	0	2	1	1	2.75
ConnectOne Bancorp	0	0	3	2	3.40

Princeton Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $37.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.38%. ConnectOne Bancorp has a consensus target price of $33.25, indicating a potential upside of 11.73%. Given ConnectOne Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ConnectOne Bancorp is more favorable than Princeton Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Princeton Bancorp and ConnectOne Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Princeton Bancorp	14.20%	7.20%	0.86%
ConnectOne Bancorp	13.21%	10.17%	1.04%

Dividends

Princeton Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. ConnectOne Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Princeton Bancorp pays out 49.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ConnectOne Bancorp pays out 45.1% 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. ConnectOne Bancorp has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

ConnectOne Bancorp beats Princeton Bancorp on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Princeton Bancorp

Princeton Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Bank of Princeton that provides various banking products and services. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, attorney trust, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers traditional retail banking services, one-to-four-family residential mortgage loans, multi-family and commercial mortgage loans, construction loans, and commercial business loans, as well as consumer loans, including home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, it provides debit and credit cards, and money orders, direct deposit, automated teller machines, cashier's checks, safe deposit boxes, online banking, wire transfers, night depository, remote deposit capture, bank-by-mail, online, and automated telephone banking services, as well as payroll-related services and merchant credit card processing services. Further, the company offers full on-line statements, on-line bill payment, account inquiries, mobile banking, transaction histories and details, and account-to-account transfer services. Princeton Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

About ConnectOne Bancorp

ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for ConnectOne Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and mid-sized businesses, local professionals, and individuals in the New York Metropolitan area and South Florida market. The company offers personal and business checking, money market, and time and savings accounts; credit cards, wire transfers, safe deposit boxes, automated teller services and telephone, and internet and mobile banking. It provides retirement accounts, consumers and cash management services for business clients, including treasury direct, automated clearing house, remote deposit capture, and digital invoicing. In addition, the company offers consumer and commercial business loans, including lines of credit, commercial and residential mortgages, home equity and bridge loans, and other personal loans; commercial loans secured by collateral, such as business assets comprising accounts receivable, inventory and equipment, and mortgages filed on commercial and residential real estate, as well as cash balances and marketable securities. Further, it provides real estate loans, which includes loans secured by first liens on completed commercial properties, including multi-family properties, to purchase or refinance properties; residential mortgages, such as loans secured by first liens on 1-4 family and condominium; and cooperative residential real estate loans. The company was formerly known as Center Bancorp, Inc. and changed its name to ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. in July 2014. ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.