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The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Small-Cap Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Motley Fool. This strategy looks for small cap growth stocks with solid fundamentals and strong price performance.

PEOPLES BANCORP OF NORTH CAROLINA, INC. (PEBK) is a small-cap value stock in the Money Center Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool changed from 69% to 76% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. serves as the holding company for Peoples Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a state-chartered commercial bank. The Bank has a diversified loan portfolio, with no foreign loans and few agricultural loans. The Bank's loan portfolio also includes Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) mortgage loans generated through its former Banco offices. It has four subsidiaries, such as Peoples Investment Services, Inc., Real Estate Advisory Services, Inc., Community Bank Real Estate Solutions, LLC (CBRES) and PB Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Peoples Investment Services, Inc. provides the Bank's customers access to investment counseling and non-deposit investment products. Real Estate Advisory Services, Inc. provides real estate appraisal and real estate brokerage services. CBRES serves as a clearinghouse for appraisal services for community banks. PB Real Estate Holdings, LLC acquires, manages, and disposes of real property, other collateral, and assets.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of PEOPLES BANCORP OF NORTH CAROLINA, INC.

GREENLIGHT CAPITAL RE, LTD. (GLRE) is a small-cap value stock in the Insurance (Life) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool changed from 68% to 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. provides multiline property and casualty insurance and reinsurance through its licensed and regulated reinsurance entities in the Cayman Islands and Ireland, and its Lloyd's platform, Greenlight Innovation Syndicate 3456. Its property business covers personal lines, commercial lines exposures and automobile physical damage. The property business includes both catastrophe and non-catastrophe coverage. Its casualty business covers general liability, motor liability, professional liability, and workers compensation exposures. The Company's multi-line business includes the Funds at Lloyd's business. Its other business covers accident and health, financial (including transactional liability, mortgage insurance, surety, and trade credit), marine, energy, as well as other specialty business, such as aviation, crop, cyber, political, and terrorism exposures. Its subsidiaries include Greenlight Reinsurance, Ltd., Greenlight Re Marketing (UK) Limited, and others.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of GREENLIGHT CAPITAL RE, LTD.

DESPEGAR.COM CORP (DESP) is a small-cap growth stock in the Personal Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool changed from 65% to 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Despegar.com Corp is an Argentina-based online travel company. It provides a broad suite of travel products, including airline tickets, travel packages, hotel bookings and other travel products. It organizes its business into two segments: Air, which consists of the sale of airline tickets, and Packages, Hotels and Other Travel Products, which consists of travel packages, as well as stand-alone sales of hotel rooms, car rentals, bus tickets, cruise tickets, travel insurance and destination services. The Company's one-stop marketplace enables millions of users to find, compare, plan and easily purchase travel services and products through its websites and mobile apps. The Company owns and operates two brands: Despegar, its global brand and Decolar, its Brazilian brand. It operates in Latin America across 20 countries.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of DESPEGAR.COM CORP

PAYSIGN INC (PAYS) is a small-cap growth stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool changed from 59% to 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Paysign, Inc. is a vertically integrated provider of prepaid card products and processing services for corporate, consumer and government applications. The Company's payment solutions are utilized by its corporate customers as a means to increase customer loyalty, increase patient adherence rates, reduce administration costs and streamline operations. Public sector organizations can utilize its payment solutions to disburse public benefits or for internal payments. It markets its prepaid card solutions under its Paysign brand. It operates on a payments platform with cutting-edge fintech capabilities that can be seamlessly integrated with its clients' systems. This distinctive positioning allows it to provide end-to-end technologies that securely manage transaction processing, cardholder enrollment, value loading, account management, data and analytics, and customer service. Its suite of product offerings includes solutions for corporate rewards, prepaid gift cards and others.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of PAYSIGN INC

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