Contrasting Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) & Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF)

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Republic Bancorp and Mvb Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Republic Bancorp	$521.34 million	3.47	$131.32 million	$6.55	14.08
Mvb Financial	$200.74 million	1.93	$26.94 million	$2.96	10.10

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Republic Bancorp and Mvb Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Republic Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25
Mvb Financial	0	2	4	0	2.67

Republic Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $98.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.29%. Mvb Financial has a consensus price target of $33.67, indicating a potential upside of 12.56%. Given Mvb Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Mvb Financial is more favorable than Republic Bancorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.7% of Mvb Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 55.9% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.9% of Mvb Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Republic Bancorp and Mvb Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Republic Bancorp	25.38%	11.20%	1.77%
Mvb Financial	17.53%	2.86%	0.29%

Volatility & Risk

Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mvb Financial has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Mvb Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Republic Bancorp pays out 30.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mvb Financial pays out 23.0% 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. Republic Bancorp has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years. Mvb Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Republic Bancorp beats Mvb Financial on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

About Mvb Financial

MVB Financial Corp. operates as bank holding company for MVB Bank, Inc that provides financial services to individuals and corporate clients. The company operates through three segments: CoRe Banking, Mortgage Banking, and The Financial Holding Company. It offers various demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. The company also provides debit cards; cashier's checks; safe deposit rental facilities; and non-deposit investment services, as well as financial technology (Fintech) banking services. In addition, it offers fintech solutions for the gaming, payments, banking-as-a-service, and digital asset sectors; fraud prevention services for merchants, credit agencies, Fintech companies, and other vendors; and digital products and web and mobile applications for forward-thinking community banks, credit unions, digital banks, and Fintech companies. It operates full-service branches in West Virginia and Virginia. MVB Financial Corp. was founded in 1997 and is based in Fairmont, West Virginia.