Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) & Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) Critical Comparison

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) and Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Atlantic Union Bankshares and Glacier Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlantic Union Bankshares	15.53%	8.50%	1.06%
Glacier Bancorp	14.99%	5.98%	0.68%

Dividends

Atlantic Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays out 66.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Glacier Bancorp pays out 68.8% 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. Atlantic Union Bankshares has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Atlantic Union Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Atlantic Union Bankshares and Glacier Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlantic Union Bankshares	0	2	3	1	2.83
Glacier Bancorp	0	3	3	1	2.71

Atlantic Union Bankshares presently has a consensus price target of $38.33, indicating a potential upside of 4.97%. Glacier Bancorp has a consensus price target of $50.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.50%. Given Atlantic Union Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Atlantic Union Bankshares is more favorable than Glacier Bancorp.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Atlantic Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Atlantic Union Bankshares and Glacier Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlantic Union Bankshares	$1.05 billion	4.95	$209.13 million	$2.06	17.73
Glacier Bancorp	$877.23 million	6.72	$190.14 million	$1.92	25.91

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

Summary

Atlantic Union Bankshares beats Glacier Bancorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes, as well as debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides treasury management and capital market, wealth management, private banking, trust, financial and retirement planning, brokerage, investment management, equipment finance, mortgage banking, and insurance products and services. The company offers products and services through full-service branches and ATMs, as well as through its mobile and internet banking. The company was formerly known as Union Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in May 2019. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. The company offers retail banking, business banking, and mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It also provides non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings, money market deposits, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. In addition, the company offers construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. Further, it provides commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Glacier Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.