Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB – Get Rating) and ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK – Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings and profitability.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Berkshire Hills Bancorp and ECB Bancorp's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Get Berkshire Hills Bancorp alerts:| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Berkshire Hills Bancorp | $456.19 million | 3.04 | $92.53 million | $2.03 | 15.15 |
| ECB Bancorp | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Berkshire Hills Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than ECB Bancorp.
Profitability
This table compares Berkshire Hills Bancorp and ECB Bancorp's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Berkshire Hills Bancorp | 20.28% | 10.04% | 0.86% |
| ECB Bancorp | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Berkshire Hills Bancorp and ECB Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Berkshire Hills Bancorp | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 |
| ECB Bancorp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $29.25, indicating a potential downside of 4.91%. Given Berkshire Hills Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Berkshire Hills Bancorp is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
80.7% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.8% of ECB Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Berkshire Hills Bancorp beats ECB Bancorp on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Berkshire Hills Bancorp
(Get Rating)
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Berkshire Bank and Berkshire Insurance Group, Inc. The firm offers deposit, lending, insurance, and wealth management products to retail and commercial customers in its market areas. It aims to expand and deepen market share and wallet share through organic growth and acquisition strategies. The company was founded in June 2000 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.
About ECB Bancorp
(Get Rating)
ECB Bancorp, Inc. focuses on operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, the company invests in securities, consisting primarily of U.S. government and federal agency obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. It operates through two full-service banking offices located in Everett, Massachusetts and Lynnfield, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1890 and is based in Everett, Massachusetts.
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