United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) & Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC) Head-To-Head Contrast

Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Commercial National Financial and United Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commercial National Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A
United Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Dividends

Commercial National Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Commercial National Financial pays out 37.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorp pays out 44.0% 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. United Bancorp has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Commercial National Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Commercial National Financial has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bancorp has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.4% of United Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 23.0% of Commercial National Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of United Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Commercial National Financial and United Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commercial National Financial	20.95%	N/A	N/A
United Bancorp	21.47%	15.23%	1.10%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Commercial National Financial and United Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commercial National Financial	$27.39 million	N/A	$6.17 million	$1.48	6.02
United Bancorp	$29.43 million	2.48	$8.95 million	$1.59	7.71

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

Summary

United Bancorp beats Commercial National Financial on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commercial National Financial

Commercial National Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Commercial Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, agricultural businesses, commercial businesses, and light industries in Michigan. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and health savings accounts. It also offers personal loan products, such as automobile loans, recreational vehicle loans, personal lines of credit, and unsecured term loans, as well as home equity loans and mortgage loans; and business loans, including secured lines of credit, business equity line of credit, SBA loans, equipment loans, real estate loans, vehicle loans, term loans, USDA loan programs, and capital access loan programs. In addition, the company provides other services comprising business VISA check cards, debit and ATM cards, business statement savings, business certificates of deposit, merchant services, night depository, telephone banking, online banking, e-statements, direct deposit of payroll for employees, child support payments, collection of receivables, and remote deposit capture, as well as treasury services. It provides its services through offices located in Barry, Gratiot, Ingham, Kent, and Montcalm counties in Michigan. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Ithaca, Michigan.

About United Bancorp

United Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Unified Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services in Ohio. The company provides range of banking and financial services, which includes accepting demand, savings, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, real estate and consumer loans. United Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio.