Financial Comparison: QCR (NASDAQ:QCRH) & United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP)

United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) and QCR (NASDAQ:QCRH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

United Bancorp has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, QCR has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.4% of United Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.0% of QCR shares are held by institutional investors. 12.9% of United Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of QCR shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bancorp	16.39%	12.09%	0.90%
QCR	20.64%	12.04%	1.35%

Dividends

United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. QCR pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. United Bancorp pays out 58.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. QCR pays out 3.4% 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 increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. United Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for United Bancorp and QCR, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00
QCR	0	3	3	0	2.50

QCR has a consensus target price of $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.69%. Given QCR’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe QCR is more favorable than United Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares United Bancorp and QCR”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	$43.98 million	1.85	$7.40 million	$1.30	10.86
QCR	$597.39 million	2.36	$113.85 million	$7.16	11.67

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

Summary

QCR beats United Bancorp on 13 of the 17 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 QCR

QCR Holdings, Inc., a multi-bank holding company, provides commercial and consumer banking, and trust and asset management services. The company’s deposit products include noninterest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand, time, and brokered deposits. It also provides various commercial and retail lending/leasing, and investment services to corporations, partnerships, individuals, and government agencies. The company’s loan portfolio comprises loans to small and mid-sized businesses; business loans, including lines of credit for working capital and operational purposes; term loans for the acquisition of facilities, equipment, and other purposes; commercial and residential real estate loans; and installment and other consumer loans, such as home improvement, home equity, motor vehicle, and signature loans, as well as small personal credit lines. In addition, it engages in leasing of machinery and equipment to commercial and industrial businesses under direct financing lease contracts; and issuance of trust preferred securities. QCR Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Moline, Illinois.