Head to Head Survey: National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) vs. USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB)

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) and National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Dividends

USCB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. National Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. USCB Financial pays out 30.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Bank pays out 43.5% 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. USCB Financial has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and National Bank has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. National Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares USCB Financial and National Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
USCB Financial	16.36%	14.78%	1.21%
National Bank	18.66%	8.65%	1.17%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares USCB Financial and National Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
USCB Financial	$159.60 million	2.16	$26.10 million	$1.30	14.67
National Bank	$587.34 million	2.62	$109.57 million	$2.85	14.27

National Bank has higher revenue and earnings than USCB Financial. National Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than USCB Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for USCB Financial and National Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
USCB Financial	0	1	3	1	3.00
National Bank	0	3	3	0	2.50

USCB Financial currently has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.37%. National Bank has a consensus price target of $44.75, suggesting a potential upside of 10.00%. Given USCB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe USCB Financial is more favorable than National Bank.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.3% of USCB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of National Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 49.5% of USCB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of National Bank shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

USCB Financial has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Bank has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

National Bank beats USCB Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers loan products, such as small business administration loans, yacht financing, residential and commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; foreign bank loans; and secured and unsecured consumer loans comprising personal loans, overdrafts, and deposit account collateralized loans. The company also offers lockbox, treasury, commercial payments, cash management, and online banking services, as well as provides title insurance policies for real estate transactions. USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About National Bank

National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans and leases, such as working capital loans, equipment loans, lender finance loans, food and agriculture loans, government and non-profit loans, owner occupied commercial real estate loans, and other commercial loans and leases; non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans consisting of loans on commercial properties, such as office buildings, warehouse/distribution buildings, multi-family, hospitality, and retail buildings; small business administration loans to support small businesses and entrepreneurs; term loans, line of credits, and real estate secured loans; residential real estate loans; and consumer loans. In addition, it offers treasury management solutions comprising online and mobile banking, commercial credit card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, electronic bill payment, lock box, remote deposit capture, merchant processing, cash vault, controlled disbursements, and fraud prevention services, as well as other auxiliary services, including account reconciliation, collections, repurchase accounts, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts. The company operates through a network of banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City region, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Texas. It also operates ATMs. The company was formerly known as NBH Holdings Corp. and changed its name to National Bank Holdings Corporation in March 2012. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.