Analyzing Chester Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CNBA) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP)

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

Dividends

Chester Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 19.2%. United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. United Bancorp pays out 57.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.4% of United Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.8% of Chester Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of United Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chester Bancorp and United Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
United Bancorp	$32.89 million	2.80	$7.75 million	$1.35	11.85

United Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Chester Bancorp.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Chester Bancorp and United Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chester Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
United Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chester Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
United Bancorp	16.29%	11.89%	0.91%

Risk and Volatility

Chester Bancorp has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bancorp has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Bancorp beats Chester Bancorp on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chester Bancorp

Chester Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Chester National Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals and businesses in Chester, Illinois. It offers checking accounts, such as regular checking, student checking, golden checking, and club checking accounts; savings accounts, including statement savings, Christmas club, and money market accounts; and certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides loans comprising mortgage, construction, lot, home equity, consumer, and business loans; and reorder check services. It operates two full service offices in Sparta, Illinois; and Perryville, Missouri. Chester Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Chester, Illinois.

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.