Head-To-Head Analysis: United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) versus C&F Financial (NASDAQ:CFFI)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.8% of United Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of C&F Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of United Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of C&F Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

United Bankshares has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, C&F Financial has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. C&F Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. United Bankshares pays out 42.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. C&F Financial pays out 22.1% 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 Bankshares has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years and C&F Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. United Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for United Bankshares and C&F Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bankshares	0	3	3	0	2.50
C&F Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00

United Bankshares currently has a consensus price target of $45.75, suggesting a potential upside of 6.22%. Given United Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe United Bankshares is more favorable than C&F Financial.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Bankshares and C&F Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Bankshares	$1.82 billion	3.30	$464.60 million	$3.57	12.06
C&F Financial	$186.13 million	1.29	$26.83 million	$8.70	8.47

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

Profitability

This table compares United Bankshares and C&F Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bankshares	27.45%	9.26%	1.51%
C&F Financial	14.84%	11.19%	1.04%

Summary

United Bankshares beats C&F Financial on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About C&F Financial

C&F Financial Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals and businesses. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Mortgage Banking and Consumer Finance. The Community Banking segment provides checking and savings deposit accounts, business, real estate, development, mortgage, home equity, and installment loans. The Mortgage Banking segment offers ancillary mortgage loan origination services for loan settlement and residential appraisals. The Consumer Finance segment consists of automobile financing through lending programs that are designed to serve customers in the non-prime market who have limited access to traditional automobile financing. The company was founded on March 8, 1994 and is headquartered in Toano, VA.