Union Bankshares (UBSH) Competitors

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Do analysts prefer SSB or UBSH?

SouthState currently has a consensus price target of $116.27, suggesting a potential upside of 19.49%. Given SouthState's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe SouthState is more favorable than Union Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SouthState	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.09
Union Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has better valuation and earnings, SSB or UBSH?

SouthState has higher revenue and earnings than Union Bankshares. Union Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SouthState, 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
SouthState	$1.88B	5.25	$534.78M	$6.33	15.37
Union Bankshares	$633.03M	4.28	$146.25M	$2.71	12.18

Is SSB or UBSH a better dividend stock?

SouthState pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. SouthState pays out 34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Union Bankshares pays out 33.9% 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. SouthState has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Union Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of SSB or UBSH?

89.8% of SouthState shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of SouthState shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, SSB or UBSH?

SouthState has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Union Bankshares has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SSB or UBSH more profitable?

Union Bankshares has a net margin of 24.34% compared to SouthState's net margin of 22.38%. SouthState's return on equity of 9.62% beat Union Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SouthState	22.38%	9.62%	1.21%
Union Bankshares	24.34%	9.35%	1.33%

Does the media favor SSB or UBSH?

In the previous week, SouthState had 8 more articles in the media than Union Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for SouthState and 0 mentions for Union Bankshares. SouthState's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Union Bankshares' score of 0.00 indicating that SouthState is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
SouthState	Positive
Union Bankshares	Neutral

Summary

SouthState beats Union Bankshares on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.