Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) versus United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) Head to Head Review

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN – Get Rating) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP – Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Merchants Bancorp and United Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merchants Bancorp	$606.77 million	1.94	$219.72 million	$4.47	6.10
United Bancorp	$31.75 million	2.73	$8.66 million	$1.51	9.72

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Merchants Bancorp and United Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merchants Bancorp	0	0	1	1	3.50
United Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Merchants Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $33.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.89%. Given Merchants Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Merchants Bancorp is more favorable than United Bancorp.

Volatility & Risk

Merchants Bancorp has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bancorp has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

23.1% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.8% of United Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.8% of Merchants Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.3% 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Merchants Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Merchants Bancorp pays out 6.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorp pays out 42.4% 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. Merchants Bancorp has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and United Bancorp has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. United Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merchants Bancorp	36.21%	25.30%	2.01%
United Bancorp	27.27%	14.81%	1.17%

Summary

Merchants Bancorp beats United Bancorp on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Merchants Bancorp

(Get Rating)

Merchants Bancorp is a bank holding company, which specializes in multiple lines of business in banking and finance. It operates through the following segments: Multi-Family Mortgage Banking, Mortgage Warehousing and Banking. The Multi-Family Mortgage Banking segment engages in mortgage banking, specializing in originating and servicing loans for multi-family rental housing and healthcare facility financing, particularly for senior living properties. The Mortgage Warehousing segment funds agency eligible loans for non-depository financial institutions from the date of origination or purchase until the date of sale to an investor. The Banking segment refers to financial products and services to consumers and businesses, including commercial, commercial real estate, mortgage, and other consumer loan products, and letters of credit and various types of deposit products, including checking, savings and time deposit accounts. The company was founded by Michael Petrie and Randall D. Rogers in 1990 and is headquartered in Carmel, IN.

About United Bancorp

(Get Rating)

United Bancorp, Inc. is bank holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking in Belmont, Harrison, Jefferson, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Athens, Hocking, and Fairfield counties through its subsidiary, United Bank. It provides a range of banking and financial services, including accepting demand, savings and time deposits and granting commercial, real estate, and consumer loans. The company was founded on July 8, 1983 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, OH.