Union Bankshares (UBSH) Competitors

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

Is WBS or UBSH more profitable?

Union Bankshares has a net margin of 24.34% compared to Webster Financial's net margin of 20.06%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.84% beat Union Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Webster Financial	20.06%	10.84%	1.21%
Union Bankshares	24.34%	9.35%	1.33%

Is WBS or UBSH a better dividend stock?

Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Webster Financial pays out 32.5% 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.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, WBS or UBSH?

Webster Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Union Bankshares. Webster Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Union Bankshares, 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
Webster Financial	$4.18B	2.25	$768.71M	$4.93	11.35
Union Bankshares	$633.03M	4.06	$146.25M	$2.71	11.55

Which has more risk and volatility, WBS or UBSH?

Webster Financial has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more 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.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of WBS or UBSH?

85.6% of Webster Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Union Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Webster Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Union Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate WBS or UBSH?

Webster Financial presently has a consensus price target of $66.77, suggesting a potential upside of 19.32%. Given Webster Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Webster Financial is more favorable than Union Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77
Union Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Does the media favor WBS or UBSH?

In the previous week, Webster Financial had 15 more articles in the media than Union Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Webster Financial and 1 mentions for Union Bankshares. Webster Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.40 beat Union Bankshares' score of 0.00 indicating that Webster Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Webster Financial	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Union Bankshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Webster Financial beats Union Bankshares on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.