Peoples Bancorp Of North Carolina (PEBK) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $203.39M
• Dividend Yield: 2.58%
• Average Volume (3M): 11.36K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 11.3
• Beta (1Y): 0.79
• Revenue Growth: 4.52%
• EPS Growth: 3.47%
• Country: US
• Employees: 281
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Banks - Regional
• EPS (TTM): 1.22
• Shares Outstanding: 5,461,490
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 14,555
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 11,359
• PEG Ratio: -2.39
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.57
• Price to Sales (P/S): 2.15
• P/FCF Ratio: 12.33
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.95
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 1.84
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 2.43
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 6.90
• 1Y Price Target: N/A
• Price Target Upside: N/A
• Rating Consensus: N/A
• Number of Analyst Covering: 0
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 74 Outperform
• Price Target: $42.00 ▲(28.76% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/17/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/17/26

The score is driven primarily by solid fundamentals (revenue growth, healthy profitability, improved leverage and stable ROE), partially offset by inconsistent and recently weaker free cash flow trends. Technicals are broadly neutral with a supportive longer-term trend, while valuation is reasonable with a modest dividend yield.

Positive Factors

De-risked capital structure

A near-0.10 debt-to-equity ratio meaningfully reduces solvency and funding risk, giving management durable flexibility to support lending, absorb credit shocks, and pursue growth without relying on heavy external borrowing. This strengthens long-term stability and regulatory resilience.

Consistent revenue growth

Multi-year top-line expansion, including a ~16% increase in 2025, signals persistent business momentum and demand for loan and deposit services. For a community bank, steady revenue growth supports scalable net interest income and recurring fee income, underpinning medium-term earnings durability.

Earnings convert to cash

FCF that reliably tracks net income implies reasonable earnings quality and cash convertibility, which supports dividends, reserve building, and reinvestment. Over months this fosters financial predictability versus firms with weak conversion from reported profits to usable cash.

Negative Factors

Free cash flow volatility

Material year-to-year swings in operating and free cash flow reduce confidence in sustained internal funding for lending, capital expenditures, and shareholder returns. For a regional bank, inconsistent cash generation complicates planning for credit cycles and contingency buffers.

Margin compression from recent levels

A downward shift in peak margins suggests pressure on core profitability, likely from funding costs or mix changes. Persistently lower margins would constrain retained earnings and slow capital buildup, limiting the bank’s ability to expand lending or absorb credit losses without external capital.

Historical leverage instability

Past swings in leverage indicate shifting balance-sheet strategy or susceptibility to funding changes. That history raises uncertainty about future capital management consistency and could imply episodes of higher risk-taking or constraint when markets tighten, affecting long-term return predictability.

Peoples Bancorp Of North Carolina Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (PEBK) is a financial holding company headquartered in Newton, North Carolina, primarily engaged in providing a broad range of banking and financial services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Peoples Bank. The company serves various sectors, including retail banking, commercial banking, and investment services, focusing on the needs of individuals, businesses, and communities. Core products and services include checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages, and wealth management services, aimed at fostering economic growth and financial well-being within its operational regions.

How the Company Makes Money

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina primarily makes money through its banking subsidiary by (1) earning net interest income and (2) generating noninterest income from banking-related fees. Net interest income is driven by the spread between interest earned on interest-earning assets—primarily loans to consumers and businesses (such as commercial, real estate, and other lending products) and a securities/investment portfolio—and interest paid on funding sources such as customer deposits and other borrowings. Noninterest income is generated from service charges and fees associated with deposit accounts and transaction services (for example, account maintenance and other deposit-related fees) and other banking service fees where applicable. Profitability is influenced by loan growth and credit quality (e.g., charge-offs and loan loss provisions), the level and mix of deposits (and their cost), interest rate movements that affect yields and funding costs, and operating efficiency (noninterest expense). Specific material partnerships or unusual revenue arrangements: null.

Peoples Bancorp Of North Carolina Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong multi-year revenue growth and steady profitability support the score, alongside a materially improved leverage position (very low debt-to-equity) and stable ~12–13% ROE. Offsetting this is meaningful cash flow volatility and weaker recent free cash flow growth, which reduces confidence in near-term cash generation momentum.

Income Statement

Revenue has grown steadily over the last several years (2025 up ~16% after growth in 2022–2024), showing solid business momentum. Profitability remains healthy with net profit margin holding in the high-teens in 2024–2025, though it is below the stronger levels seen in 2021–2022, indicating some margin compression. Operating profitability is still solid, but the peak margin profile appears to have moderated.

Balance Sheet

Leverage has improved materially: debt-to-equity fell from elevated levels in 2022–2023 to ~0.10 in 2025, indicating a meaningfully de-risked capital structure. Shareholders’ equity has increased (2023–2025), and returns on equity have been consistently strong and stable around ~12–13% in 2023–2025. Key watchout is the historical volatility in leverage (notably 2022–2023), which suggests balance sheet strategy has shifted materially over time.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is generally supportive: free cash flow has closely tracked net income across the period (roughly ~0.8–1.0x), suggesting earnings quality is reasonable. However, free cash flow growth has been inconsistent, including declines in 2024–2025 versus the prior year, which reduces confidence in near-term cash flow momentum. Operating cash flow has also fluctuated meaningfully year to year, indicating less stability than the income statement trend implies.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	114.60M	97.79M	85.78M	70.72M	63.88M
Gross Profit	89.06M	71.42M	67.07M	65.92M	61.84M
EBITDA	25.85M	23.82M	23.05M	26.33M	24.50M
Net Income	19.83M	16.35M	15.55M	16.12M	15.13M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	1.70B	1.65B	1.64B	1.62B	1.62B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	405.08M	293.05M	474.30M	516.99M	684.05M
Total Debt	19.08M	19.60M	107.01M	68.34M	57.23M
Total Liabilities	1.55B	1.52B	1.51B	1.52B	1.48B
Stockholders Equity	157.12M	130.56M	121.02M	105.19M	142.37M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	19.96M	19.97M	20.83M	18.05M	26.42M
Operating Cash Flow	21.37M	20.56M	22.78M	22.66M	26.90M
Investing Cash Flow	-41.83M	-42.62M	-753.00K	-255.98M	-106.14M
Financing Cash Flow	19.30M	-1.04M	-11.25M	27.42M	195.16M

Peoples Bancorp Of North Carolina Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Neutral
• Last Price: 32.62
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For PEBK, the sentiment is Neutral. The current price of 32.62 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 38.08, below the 50-day MA of 37.32, and above the 200-day MA of 32.05, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.02 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 44.89 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 45.33 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Neutral sentiment for PEBK.

Peoples Bancorp Of North Carolina Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
UBFO	78 Outperform	$175.87M	14.13	9.03%	4.66%	-2.00%	-36.25%
PEBK	74 Outperform	$203.39M	11.31	13.46%	2.58%	4.52%	3.47%
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
CBFV	64 Neutral	$171.41M	9.22	3.23%	2.90%	-1.39%	-88.66%
OVBC	63 Neutral	$191.03M	12.07	9.58%	2.27%	10.35%	22.05%
MRBK	58 Neutral	$219.45M	7.06	11.39%	2.87%	9.77%	76.75%
HNVR	49 Neutral	$146.02M	23.06	5.60%	1.70%	0.99%	-6.35%