Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) and First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Head to Head Comparison

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) and Mid Penn Bancorp (NASDAQ:MPB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Dividends

First United pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Mid Penn Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. First United pays out 24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mid Penn Bancorp pays out 33.5% 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. First United has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First United and Mid Penn Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First United	$111.40 million	2.19	$20.57 million	$3.65	10.29
Mid Penn Bancorp	$309.08 million	2.24	$49.44 million	$2.39	12.59

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for First United and Mid Penn Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First United	0	0	1	0	3.00
Mid Penn Bancorp	0	0	2	0	3.00

First United currently has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.79%. Mid Penn Bancorp has a consensus target price of $34.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.62%. Given Mid Penn Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Mid Penn Bancorp is more favorable than First United.

Risk and Volatility

First United has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mid Penn Bancorp has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First United	20.53%	13.05%	1.21%
Mid Penn Bancorp	13.69%	8.13%	0.95%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.3% of First United shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.1% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.9% of First United shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Mid Penn Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Mid Penn Bancorp beats First United on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First United

First United Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First United Bank & Trust that provides various retail and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. It offers various deposit products, which includes checking, savings, money market deposit, and regular and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), as well as certificates of deposit. The company loan portfolio includes commercial loans secured by real estate, commercial equipment, vehicles, or other assets of the borrower; commercial real estate loans for residential and commercial development, agricultural purpose properties, and service industry buildings, such as restaurants and motels, retail buildings, and general purpose business space; residential mortgage loans; home equity lines of credit; residential real estate construction loans; and indirect and direct auto loans, student loans, and other secured and unsecured lines of credit and term loans. It also offers access to multi-million-dollar certificates of deposit and the Intrafi cash service, including multi-million-dollar savings and demand deposits to municipalities, businesses, and consumers; and treasury management, cash sweep, and various checking services. In addition, the company provides trust services, which includes personal trust, investment agency accounts, charitable trusts, retirement accounts, including IRA roll-overs, 401(k) accounts and defined benefit plans, estate administration, and estate planning; and insurance products, brokerage services, and safe deposit and night depository facilities. First United Corporation was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Oakland, Maryland.

About Mid Penn Bancorp

Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Mid Penn Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. The company offers various time and demand deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, clubs, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. It also provides a range of loan products comprising mortgage and home equity loans, secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, lines of credit, construction financing, farm loans, community development loans, loans to non-profit entities, and local government loans. In addition, the company offers trust, retail investment, wealth management, and insurance services; and provides online banking, telephone banking, cash management, and automated teller services, as well as safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.