Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) & United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) Head-To-Head Comparison

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

57.1% of Hilltop shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.4% of United Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.9% of Hilltop shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of United Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Hilltop has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hilltop	7.10%	5.30%	0.70%
United Bancorp	19.85%	14.19%	1.04%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Hilltop and United Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hilltop	0	3	0	0	2.00
United Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Hilltop currently has a consensus price target of $34.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.29%. Given Hilltop’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Hilltop is more favorable than United Bancorp.

Dividends

Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Hilltop pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorp pays out 44.7% 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 raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. United Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hilltop and United Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hilltop	$1.12 billion	1.82	$109.65 million	$1.71	18.29
United Bancorp	$40.90 million	1.95	$8.95 million	$1.59	8.42

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

Summary

Hilltop beats United Bancorp on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc. provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance. It also provides treasury management, asset management, check cards, safe deposit boxes, online banking, bill pay, and overdraft privilege services; and estate planning, management and administration, investment portfolio management, employee benefit accounts, and individual retirement accounts services, as well as automated teller machines. The Broker-Dealer segment offers public finance services that assist public entities in originating, syndicating, and distributing securities of municipalities and political subdivisions; specialized advisory and investment banking services; advice and guidance to arbitrage rebate compliance, portfolio management, and local government investment pool administration; advisory services and products for derivatives and commodities; agricultural insurance; and sells, trades in, and underwrites U.S. government and government agency bonds, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds; mortgage-backed, asset-backed, and commercial mortgage-backed securities and structured products; and provides asset and liability management advisory, clearing, retail, and securities lending services. The Mortgage Origination segment offers fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, jumbo, new construction, Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, and United States Department of Agriculture loans. Hilltop Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

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.