United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP – Get Free Report) and Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares United Bancorp and Citizens & Northern”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United Bancorp | $33.52 million | 2.43 | $7.75 million | $1.29 | 11.01 |
| Citizens & Northern | $150.19 million | 3.33 | $23.43 million | $1.48 | 18.86 |
Citizens & Northern has higher revenue and earnings than United Bancorp. United Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citizens & Northern, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.79 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Citizens & Northern pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. United Bancorp pays out 61.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens & Northern pays out 81.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
15.4% of United Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of Citizens & Northern shares are held by institutional investors. 13.9% of United Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Citizens & Northern shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
United Bancorp has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens & Northern has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares United Bancorp and Citizens & Northern’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United Bancorp | 16.55% | 11.53% | 0.92% |
| Citizens & Northern | 13.28% | 9.54% | 1.04% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for United Bancorp and Citizens & Northern, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United Bancorp | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Citizens & Northern | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
Citizens & Northern has a consensus target price of $23.50, suggesting a potential downside of 15.83%. Given Citizens & Northern’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Citizens & Northern is more favorable than United Bancorp.
Summary
Citizens & Northern beats United Bancorp on 11 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 Citizens & Northern
Citizens & Northern Corp. is a holding company, which engages in community banking. It provides a full range of banking and mortgage services to individual and corporate customers in North Central Pennsylvania and Southern New York State. The firm’s lending products include mortgage loans, commercial loans, and consumer loans. Its deposit products include various types of checking accounts, passbook and statement savings, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Wellsboro, PA.
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