Reviewing United Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBOH) and SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK)

United Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBOH) and SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares United Bancshares and SmartFinancial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bancshares	14.84%	N/A	N/A
SmartFinancial	12.67%	7.33%	0.71%

Dividends

United Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. SmartFinancial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. United Bancshares pays out 24.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SmartFinancial pays out 13.0% 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. SmartFinancial has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.0% of United Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.8% of SmartFinancial shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of United Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of SmartFinancial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

United Bancshares has a beta of 0.03, meaning that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SmartFinancial has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares United Bancshares and SmartFinancial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Bancshares	$46.23 million	1.88	$9.15 million	$3.84	7.64
SmartFinancial	$187.06 million	3.22	$36.14 million	$2.47	14.34

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for United Bancshares and SmartFinancial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
SmartFinancial	0	3	0	1	2.50

SmartFinancial has a consensus price target of $38.25, indicating a potential upside of 8.02%. Given SmartFinancial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SmartFinancial is more favorable than United Bancshares.

Summary

SmartFinancial beats United Bancshares on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Bancshares

United Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for The Union Bank Company that provides various commercial and consumer banking services. The company accepts various deposits products, such as checking, savings, demand deposit, money market deposit, term certificate, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan products include commercial and residential real estate, agricultural, commercial and industrial, home equity, and various types of consumer and small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers wealth management, financial needs analysis, mutual funds, securities trading, annuities, and life insurance services; and treasury management, online and mobile banking, automatic teller machine, bill pay, safe deposit box rental, payment, and other personalized services. It also operates full service banking centers and loan production offices in northwest and central Ohio. United Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Columbus Grove, Ohio.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for SmartBank that provides various financial services to individuals and corporate customers in Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. It operates through Commercial Real Estate, Consumer Real Estate, Construction and Land Development, Commercial and Industrial, Leases, and Consumer and Other segments. The company offers noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, interest-bearing demand, savings, money market, time deposit, individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial and residential real estate, consumer real estate, and construction and land development loans; commercial and financial loans and leases; commercial business and mortgage loans; and direct consumer installment, educational, agriculture, and other revolving credit loans; equipment financing, heavy equipment, semis, and trailers loans and leases to small and mid-size companies; letters of credit; and overdraft facilities. In addition, the company offers wealth management, insurance, mortgage origination, and internet and mobile banking services. SmartFinancial, Inc. is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.