United Security Bancshares (UBFO) Competitors

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is IBCP or UBFO more profitable?

Independent Bank has a net margin of 20.31% compared to United Security Bancshares' net margin of 17.07%. Independent Bank's return on equity of 14.05% beat United Security Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independent Bank	20.31%	14.05%	1.21%
United Security Bancshares	17.07%	8.43%	0.92%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in IBCP or UBFO?

79.4% of Independent Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.7% of Independent Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate IBCP or UBFO?

Independent Bank currently has a consensus target price of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.76%. Given Independent Bank's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Independent Bank is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independent Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
United Security Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is IBCP or UBFO a better dividend stock?

Independent Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Independent Bank pays out 33.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Security Bancshares pays out 72.7% 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. Independent Bank has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years and United Security Bancshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, IBCP or UBFO?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independent Bank	$216.12M	3.03	$66.79M	$3.07	10.31
United Security Bancshares	$65.46M	2.57	$14.78M	$0.66	14.57

Does the media refer more to IBCP or UBFO?

In the previous week, Independent Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat United Security Bancshares' score of 0.00 indicating that Independent Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Independent Bank	Positive
United Security Bancshares	Neutral

Which has more risk & volatility, IBCP or UBFO?

Independent Bank has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Independent Bank beats United Security Bancshares on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.