Head to Head Review: United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) & United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI)

United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) and United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.4% of United Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of United Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.7% of United Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of United Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares United Bancorp and United Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Bancorp	$40.90 million	1.87	$8.95 million	$1.49	8.60
United Bankshares	$1.04 billion	4.91	$366.31 million	$2.64	14.30

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for United Bancorp and United Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A
United Bankshares	0	3	1	0	2.25

United Bankshares has a consensus target price of $40.25, indicating a potential upside of 6.62%. Given United Bankshares’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe United Bankshares is more favorable than United Bancorp.

Volatility and Risk

United Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bankshares has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. United Bancorp pays out 47.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bankshares pays out 56.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. United Bancorp has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and United Bankshares has raised its dividend for 25 consecutive years. United Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares United Bancorp and United Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bancorp	19.85%	14.19%	1.04%
United Bankshares	22.05%	7.58%	1.23%

Summary

United Bankshares beats United Bancorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Bancorp

United Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Unified Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services in Ohio. The company provides range of banking and financial services, which includes accepting demand, savings, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, real estate and consumer loans. United Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts. Its loan products include commercial loans and leases to small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies; construction and real estate loans, such as commercial and residential mortgages, and loans secured by owner-occupied real estate; personal, student, credit card receivables, personal, commercial, and floor plan loans; and home equity loans. In addition, the company provides credit cards; safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, and other banking products and services; investment and security services; services to correspondent banks, including buying and selling federal funds; automated teller machine services; and internet and telephone banking services. Further, it offers community banking services, such as asset management, real property title insurance, financial planning, mortgage banking, and brokerage services, as well as investment management and retirement planning services. United Bankshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.