United Bankshares (UBSI) Competitors

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Does the media favor UBSI or RF?

In the previous week, Regions Financial had 9 more articles in the media than United Bankshares. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Regions Financial and 7 mentions for United Bankshares. Regions Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat United Bankshares' score of 0.93 indicating that Regions Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
United Bankshares	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Regions Financial	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is UBSI or RF a better dividend stock?

United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Regions Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. United Bankshares pays out 55.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Regions Financial pays out 48.1% 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 Bankshares has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years and Regions Financial has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Regions Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is UBSI or RF more profitable?

United Bankshares has a net margin of 22.94% compared to Regions Financial's net margin of 20.20%. Regions Financial's return on equity of 12.83% beat United Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Bankshares	22.94%	7.60%	1.24%
Regions Financial	20.20%	12.83%	1.32%

Do analysts rate UBSI or RF?

United Bankshares currently has a consensus price target of $40.63, indicating a potential upside of 15.18%. Regions Financial has a consensus price target of $25.53, indicating a potential upside of 21.27%. Given Regions Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Regions Financial is more favorable than United Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Regions Financial	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in UBSI or RF?

70.8% of United Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.4% of Regions Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of United Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Regions Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor UBSI or RF?

Regions Financial received 670 more outperform votes than United Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.64% of users gave Regions Financial an outperform vote while only 46.38% of users gave United Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
United Bankshares	Outperform Votes 269 46.38%	Underperform Votes 311 53.62%
Regions Financial	Outperform Votes 939 62.64%	Underperform Votes 560 37.36%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, UBSI or RF?

Regions Financial has higher revenue and earnings than United Bankshares. Regions Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United 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
United Bankshares	$1.07B	4.74	$373M	$2.69	13.11
Regions Financial	$7.12B	2.68	$1.89B	$2.08	10.12

Which has more volatility & risk, UBSI or RF?

United Bankshares has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Regions Financial has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Regions Financial beats United Bankshares on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.