Core Viewpoint - Independent Bank is positioned as a more favorable investment compared to Peoples Bancorp based on various financial metrics and analyst recommendations [11] Profitability - Independent Bank has a net margin of 21.25%, return on equity of 14.76%, and return on assets of 1.28% - Peoples Bancorp has a net margin of 16.57%, return on equity of 9.45%, and return on assets of 1.15% [2] Institutional and Insider Ownership - 79.4% of Independent Bank shares are owned by institutional investors, while 60.7% of Peoples Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors - Company insiders own 5.7% of Independent Bank shares compared to 3.4% for Peoples Bancorp [3] Valuation and Earnings - Independent Bank's gross revenue is $222.04 million with a price/sales ratio of 2.93, net income of $66.79 million, earnings per share (EPS) of $3.26, and a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.65 - Peoples Bancorp has gross revenue of $447.86 million with a price/sales ratio of 2.34, net income of $117.21 million, EPS of $2.86, and a P/E ratio of 10.28 - Independent Bank is trading at a lower P/E ratio, indicating it is more affordable [5][6] Analyst Recommendations - Independent Bank has a consensus target price of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.43%, while Peoples Bancorp has a target price of $33.13 with a potential upside of 12.63% - Analysts rate Independent Bank more favorably due to its higher potential upside [8] Dividends - Independent Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share with a dividend yield of 3.3%, distributing 31.9% of its earnings as dividends - Peoples Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share with a dividend yield of 5.6%, distributing 57.3% of its earnings as dividends - Both companies have a history of increasing dividends, with Independent Bank increasing for 11 consecutive years and Peoples Bancorp for 10 consecutive years [9] Volatility & Risk - Independent Bank has a beta of 0.86, indicating it is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500 - Peoples Bancorp has a beta of 0.7, indicating it is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500 [10]

Economic Overview - The Estonian economy is experiencing a slow recovery with weak and unstable growth, and inflation remains high at 5.4% year-on-year as of July 2025, driven by rising taxes and increased expenditures on food and healthcare [1] - Consumer confidence is low due to rapid price growth, although lower interest rates and energy prices may improve confidence in the second half of the year [1] Loan Demand and Consumer Financing - There is strong growth in loan demand from private customers, with home loan turnover reaching a record-high of 268 million euros in June, influenced by a 2 percentage point increase in value-added tax starting in July [2] - Demand for consumer financing remains robust, driven by needs for home renovation, furnishing, and travel plans, while the car leasing portfolio saw a slight decrease [3] Banking Services and Customer Growth - Coop Pank introduced new daily banking packages, with the "Kasulik" package being the most popular, offering cashback on purchases at Coop stores, which helps attract new customers and activate existing ones [4] - The bank's client base increased by 1,700 in July, reaching a total of 219,300 clients, with active clients increasing by 600 to 104,100, marking an 11% growth over the year [6] Financial Performance - The volume of customer deposits rose by 111 million euros to 1.93 billion euros, with corporate deposits increasing by 50 million euros and private deposits by 2 million euros [6] - The bank's loan portfolio grew by 23 million euros to 1.97 billion euros, with business loans increasing by 10 million euros and home loans by 13 million euros [6] - Coop Pank reported a net profit of 2.4 million euros in July, with a year-to-date net profit of 16.9 million euros, reflecting a 16% decrease compared to the previous year [6][8] Strategic Developments - The bank raised 111 million euros in deposits in July to support strong loan growth, with nearly half coming from local customers and the remainder from the international deposit platform Raisin [7] - The bank aims to leverage the synergy between retail business and banking to enhance everyday banking services for customers [8]