Reviewing TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB)

TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Risk and Volatility

TrustCo Bank Corp NY has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares TrustCo Bank Corp NY and Union Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	21.96%	8.86%	0.96%
Union Bankshares	12.75%	15.18%	0.73%

Dividends

TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. TrustCo Bank Corp NY pays out 46.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Union Bankshares pays out 59.3% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for TrustCo Bank Corp NY and Union Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	0	0	1	0	3.00
Union Bankshares	0	1	0	0	2.00

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.6% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.8% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of TrustCo Bank Corp NY shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TrustCo Bank Corp NY and Union Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TrustCo Bank Corp NY	$278.36 million	2.90	$61.14 million	$3.25	13.49
Union Bankshares	$86.06 million	1.25	$11.08 million	$2.43	9.65

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

Summary

TrustCo Bank Corp NY beats Union Bankshares on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TrustCo Bank Corp NY

TrustCo Bank Corp NY operates as the holding company for Trustco Bank, a federal savings bank that provides personal and business banking services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts deposits; and offers loans and investments. It also operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, holds, and manages real estate mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. In addition, the company serves as the executor of estates and trustee of personal trusts; provides asset and wealth management, estate planning and related advice, and custodial services; and acts as trustee for various types of employee benefit plans, and corporate pension and profit-sharing trusts. It operates through banking offices in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester counties of New York; Brevard, Charlotte, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida; Bennington County in Vermont; Berkshire County in Massachusetts; and Bergen County in New Jersey, as well as automatic teller machines. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glenville, New York.

About Union Bankshares

Union Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial loans for plant and equipment, working capital, real estate renovation, and other business purposes to business owners and investors; small business administration guaranteed loans; residential construction and mortgage loans; municipal financing, including loans and excess deposits secured by FHLBB letters of credit; and home improvement loans and overdraft checking privileges against preauthorized lines of credit. In addition, it offers online cash management services, including account reconciliation, credit card depository, automated clearing house origination, wire transfers, positive pay and night depository services; merchant credit card services for the deposit and immediate credit of sales drafts; remote deposit capture services; and online mortgage application and consumer deposit account opening services. Further, the company provides business checking accounts; standby letters of credit, bank checks or money orders, and safe deposit boxes; ATM cards and services; debit cards; telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, including bill pay; and wealth management, fiduciary, and trust services. It offers retail banking services to individuals; and commercial banking services to small and medium sized business corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships, as well as nonprofit organizations, local municipalities, and school districts. Union Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Morrisville, Vermont.