United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP – Get Free Report) and Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for United Bancorp and Great Southern Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United Bancorp | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Great Southern Bancorp | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
Great Southern Bancorp has a consensus price target of $74.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.71%. Given Great Southern Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Great Southern Bancorp is more favorable than United Bancorp.
Risk & Volatility
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares United Bancorp and Great Southern Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United Bancorp | $47.51 million | 1.90 | $7.75 million | $1.38 | 11.42 |
| Great Southern Bancorp | $342.78 million | 2.55 | $70.97 million | $6.02 | 13.32 |
Great Southern Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than United Bancorp. United Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Great Southern Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares United Bancorp and Great Southern Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United Bancorp | 16.55% | 11.53% | 0.92% |
| Great Southern Bancorp | 20.72% | 10.83% | 1.22% |
Dividends
United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. United Bancorp pays out 56.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 28.6% 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 Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. United Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
15.4% of United Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 13.9% of United Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Great Southern Bancorp beats United Bancorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About United Bancorp
United Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Unified Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services in Ohio. The company provides range of banking and financial services, which includes accepting demand, savings, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, real estate and consumer loans. United Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio.
About Great Southern Bancorp
Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.
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