United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCMKTS:UBAB) versus Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) Head to Head Survey

United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCMKTS:UBAB) and Citizens & Northern (NASDAQ:CZNC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Dividends

United Bancorporation of Alabama pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Citizens & Northern pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. United Bancorporation of Alabama pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens & Northern pays out 66.3% 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 current ratings and price targets for United Bancorporation of Alabama and Citizens & Northern, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bancorporation of Alabama	0	0	0	0	0.00
Citizens & Northern	0	1	0	0	2.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

5.5% of United Bancorporation of Alabama shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of Citizens & Northern shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Citizens & Northern shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares United Bancorporation of Alabama and Citizens & Northern”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Bancorporation of Alabama	$87.26 million	2.26	$31.54 million	$8.53	6.86
Citizens & Northern	$157.29 million	2.09	$25.96 million	$1.69	12.62

United Bancorporation of Alabama has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Citizens & Northern. United Bancorporation of Alabama is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citizens & Northern, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

United Bancorporation of Alabama has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens & Northern has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares United Bancorporation of Alabama and Citizens & Northern’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bancorporation of Alabama	31.02%	22.48%	2.18%
Citizens & Northern	16.50%	9.71%	1.00%

About United Bancorporation of Alabama

United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Bank that provides banking services. The company offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, small business programs, business solutions, merchant services, and cash management services. It also provides various lending services, such as personal loans, business loans, lines of credit, and equipment loans; real estate loans for the agricultural community and working lines of credit; and overdraft services. In addition, the company offers debit cards, prepaid cards, Visa credit cards, gift cards, and safe deposit boxes. Further, it provides check cashing, convenience, remote deposit, mobile check deposit, personal storage compartments, Web payment options, insurance products, investment and brokerage, and online and mobile banking services. United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is based in Atmore, Alabama.

About Citizens & Northern

Citizens & Northern Corp. is a holding company, which engages in community banking. It provides a full range of banking and mortgage services to individual and corporate customers in North Central Pennsylvania and Southern New York State. The firm’s lending products include mortgage loans, commercial loans, and consumer loans. Its deposit products include various types of checking accounts, passbook and statement savings, money market accounts, interest checking accounts, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Wellsboro, PA.