Penns Woods Bancorp (NASDAQ:PWOD) and Blue Ridge Bankshares (NASDAQ:BRBS) Head to Head Comparison

Penns Woods Bancorp (NASDAQ:PWOD) and Blue Ridge Bankshares (NASDAQ:BRBS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Penns Woods Bancorp and Blue Ridge Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Penns Woods Bancorp	14.79%	8.77%	0.73%
Blue Ridge Bankshares	-35.41%	-34.74%	-2.17%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Penns Woods Bancorp and Blue Ridge Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Penns Woods Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
Blue Ridge Bankshares	0	0	0	0	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

27.9% of Penns Woods Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.5% of Blue Ridge Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of Penns Woods Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of Blue Ridge Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Penns Woods Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blue Ridge Bankshares has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Penns Woods Bancorp and Blue Ridge Bankshares’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Penns Woods Bancorp	$62.99 million	2.27	$16.61 million	$2.18	8.73
Blue Ridge Bankshares	$197.54 million	0.31	-$51.77 million	($3.66)	-0.73

Penns Woods Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Blue Ridge Bankshares. Blue Ridge Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Penns Woods Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Penns Woods Bancorp beats Blue Ridge Bankshares on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Penns Woods Bancorp

Penns Woods Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Jersey Shore State Bank, which provides commercial and retail banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. It accepts time, demand, and savings deposits, including super NOW accounts, statement savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as checking and individual retirement account (IRAs) accounts. The company also offers loan products comprising residential, commercial, and construction real estate loans; agricultural loans for the purchase or improvement of real estate; commercial loans for the acquisition and improvement of real estate, purchase of equipment, and working capital purposes; letters of credit; consumer loans, such as construction and residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines, automobile financing, personal loans and lines of credit, and overdraft and check lines; and revolving credit loans with overdraft protection. In addition, it provides securities brokerage and financial planning services, which include the sale of life insurance products, annuities, and estate planning services; property and casualty, and auto insurance products; safe deposit services; ATM services; and Internet and telephone banking services. Further, the company engages in real estate transactions and investment activities. It operates through a network of offices located in Clinton, Lycoming, Centre, Montour, Union, Blair, and Luzerne Counties, Pennsylvania. Penns Woods Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

About Blue Ridge Bankshares

Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Blue Ridge Bank, National Association that provides commercial and consumer banking, and financial services. It operates through: Commercial Banking and Mortgage Banking segments. The company accepts checking, savings, money market, cash management, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, home equity, consumer installment, and guaranteed government loans; and residential mortgage loans and mortgages loans on real estate. In addition, it provides wire, direct deposit payroll, remote deposit, electronic statement, and other services; and property and casualty insurance products to individuals and businesses, as well as online, mobile, and telephone banking services. Further, the company offers employee benefit plans and administration services; management services for personal and corporate trusts, including estate planning and settlement, and trust administration, investment and wealth management services. It operates in Callao, Charlottesville, Chester, Colonial Heights, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Gordonsville, Harrisonburg, Hartfield, Henrico, Kilmarnock, Louisa, Luray, Martinsville, Midlothian, Mineral, Montross, Orange, Petersburg, Richmond, Shenandoah, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Warsaw, and White Stone, Virginia; and Greensboro, North Carolina. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia.