Contrasting Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) & United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB)

Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) and United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Signature Bank and United Community Banks, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Signature Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
United Community Banks	0	4	3	0	2.43

United Community Banks has a consensus price target of $34.57, indicating a potential upside of 7.49%. Given United Community Banks’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than Signature Bank.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Signature Bank and United Community Banks”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Signature Bank	$2.70 billion	0.02	$1.34 billion	N/A	N/A
United Community Banks	$952.89 million	4.10	$252.40 million	$2.20	14.62

Signature Bank has higher revenue and earnings than United Community Banks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.1% of Signature Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.3% of United Community Banks shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Signature Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of United Community Banks shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Signature Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 94.6%. United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. United Community Banks pays out 45.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Signature Bank and United Community Banks’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Signature Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
United Community Banks	16.48%	8.64%	1.04%

Volatility & Risk

Signature Bank has a beta of 11.75, suggesting that its stock price is 1,075% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Community Banks has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Community Banks beats Signature Bank on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Signature Bank

As of March 12, 2023, Signature Bank went out of business. Previously, the company provided digital assets banking services and comprised of certain loan portfolios. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is based in New York, New York. Signature Bank now trades on OTCPK.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. The company also offers lending services, including real estate, consumer, and commercial loans, to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized commercial businesses, and non-profit organizations, as well as secured and unsecured, and mortgage loans. In addition, it originates loans partially guaranteed by the SBA and USDA loan programs. Further, the company provides wealth management services comprising financial planning, customized portfolio management, and investment advice; trust services to manage fiduciary assets; non-deposit investment products; and insurance products, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, and tax-deferred annuities, as well as invests in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, the U.S. treasury, the U.S. agency, and municipal obligations. Additionally, it offers reinsurance on a property insurance contract; insurance agency services; treasury management; credit cards; payment and commerce solution, equipment finance, investment advisory, and other related financial services; brokerage services; and payment processing, merchant, wire transfer, private banking, and other related financial services. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia.