UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) & Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Head-To-Head Survey

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) and UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Westamerica Bancorporation and UBS Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westamerica Bancorporation	0	2	0	0	2.00
UBS Group	0	3	3	0	2.50

Westamerica Bancorporation currently has a consensus price target of $53.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.04%. Given Westamerica Bancorporation’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Westamerica Bancorporation is more favorable than UBS Group.

Risk & Volatility

Westamerica Bancorporation has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UBS Group has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Westamerica Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. UBS Group pays an annual dividend of $0.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Westamerica Bancorporation pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UBS Group pays out 2.5% 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. Westamerica Bancorporation has raised its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Westamerica Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.9% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Westamerica Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of UBS Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and UBS Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westamerica Bancorporation	48.35%	21.99%	2.42%
UBS Group	39.78%	7.78%	0.40%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Westamerica Bancorporation and UBS Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westamerica Bancorporation	$327.54 million	3.92	$161.77 million	$5.92	8.14
UBS Group	$65.28 billion	1.47	$27.85 billion	$9.18	3.26

UBS Group has higher revenue and earnings than Westamerica Bancorporation. UBS Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westamerica Bancorporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Westamerica Bancorporation beats UBS Group on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westamerica Bancorporation

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, and consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. The company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

About UBS Group

UBS Group AG provides financial advice and solutions to private, institutional, and corporate clients worldwide. It operates through five divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Investment Bank, and Non-core and Legacy. The company offers investment advice, estate and wealth planning, investing, corporate and banking, and investment management, as well as mortgage, securities-based, and structured lending solutions. It also provides personal banking products and services, such as deposits, credit and debit cards, and online and mobile banking, as well as lending, investments, retirement, and wealth management services; and corporate and institutional solutions, including equity and debt capital markets, syndicated and structured credit, private placements, leasing, traditional financing, and transaction banking solutions for payment and cash management services, trade and export finance, and global custody solutions. In addition, the company offers equities, fixed income, hedge funds, real estate and private markets, indexed and alternative beta strategies, asset allocation and currency investment strategies, customized multi-asset solutions, advisory and fiduciary services, and multi-manager hedge fund solutions and advisory services. Further, it advises clients on strategic business opportunities and helps them raise capital to fund their activities; enables its clients to buy, sell, and finance securities on capital markets and to manage their risks and liquidity; distributes, trades in, finances, and clears cash equities and equity-linked products; structures, originates, and distributes new equity and equity-linked issues; and originates, distributes, manages risk, and provides liquidity in foreign exchange, rates, credit and precious metals. The company was formerly known as UBS AG and changed its name to UBS Group AG in December 2014. UBS Group AG was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.