Head to Head Survey: United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCMKTS:UBAB) versus USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB)

United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCMKTS:UBAB) and USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for United Bancorporation of Alabama and USCB Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bancorporation of Alabama	0	1	0	0	2.00
USCB Financial	0	1	3	1	3.00

USCB Financial has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.88%. Given USCB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe USCB Financial is more favorable than United Bancorporation of Alabama.

Dividends

United Bancorporation of Alabama pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. USCB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. United Bancorporation of Alabama pays out 26.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. USCB Financial pays out 38.5% 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. United Bancorporation of Alabama is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

5.5% of United Bancorporation of Alabama shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of USCB Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 49.5% of USCB Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

United Bancorporation of Alabama has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, USCB Financial has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares United Bancorporation of Alabama and USCB Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bancorporation of Alabama	21.11%	12.60%	1.34%
USCB Financial	16.36%	14.78%	1.21%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares United Bancorporation of Alabama and USCB Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Bancorporation of Alabama	$89.83 million	1.77	$19.67 million	$5.22	9.96
USCB Financial	$159.60 million	2.21	$26.10 million	$1.30	14.99

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

Summary

USCB Financial beats United Bancorporation of Alabama on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Bancorporation of Alabama

United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Bank that provides banking services. The company offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, small business programs, business solutions, merchant services, and cash management services. It also provides various lending services, such as personal loans, business loans, lines of credit, and equipment loans; real estate loans for the agricultural community and working lines of credit; and overdraft services. In addition, the company offers debit cards, prepaid cards, Visa credit cards, gift cards, and safe deposit boxes. Further, it provides check cashing, convenience, remote deposit, mobile check deposit, personal storage compartments, Web payment options, insurance products, investment and brokerage, and online and mobile banking services. United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is based in Atmore, Alabama.

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.