Contrasting United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) & Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF)

Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF) and United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Mvb Financial and United Community Banks’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mvb Financial	17.53%	2.86%	0.29%
United Community Banks	24.43%	9.61%	1.24%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Mvb Financial and United Community Banks, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mvb Financial	0	2	4	0	2.67
United Community Banks	0	3	4	1	2.75

Mvb Financial currently has a consensus target price of $33.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.82%. United Community Banks has a consensus target price of $39.60, indicating a potential upside of 19.22%. Given United Community Banks’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than Mvb Financial.

Dividends

Mvb Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Mvb Financial pays out 23.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Community Banks pays out 34.2% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mvb Financial and United Community Banks”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mvb Financial	$200.74 million	1.91	$26.94 million	$2.96	9.99
United Community Banks	$1.54 billion	2.61	$328.10 million	$3.04	10.93

United Community Banks has higher revenue and earnings than Mvb Financial. Mvb Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Community Banks, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.7% of Mvb Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.3% of United Community Banks shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.9% of Mvb Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of United Community Banks shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Mvb Financial has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Community Banks has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Community Banks beats Mvb Financial on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mvb Financial

MVB Financial Corp. operates as bank holding company for MVB Bank, Inc that provides financial services to individuals and corporate clients. The company operates through three segments: CoRe Banking, Mortgage Banking, and The Financial Holding Company. It offers various demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. The company also provides debit cards; cashier's checks; safe deposit rental facilities; and non-deposit investment services, as well as financial technology (Fintech) banking services. In addition, it offers fintech solutions for the gaming, payments, banking-as-a-service, and digital asset sectors; fraud prevention services for merchants, credit agencies, Fintech companies, and other vendors; and digital products and web and mobile applications for forward-thinking community banks, credit unions, digital banks, and Fintech companies. It operates full-service branches in West Virginia and Virginia. MVB Financial Corp. was founded in 1997 and is based in Fairmont, West Virginia.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also offers lending services, including real estate, consumer, and commercial loans, to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized commercial businesses, and non-profit organizations, as well as secured and unsecured, and mortgage loans. In addition, the company originate loans partially guaranteed by the SBA and USDA loan programs. Further, it provides wealth management services comprising financial planning, customized portfolio management, and investment advice; trust services to manage fiduciary assets; non-deposit investment products; and insurance products, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, and tax-deferred annuities, as well as invests in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, the U.S. treasury, the U.S. agency, and municipal obligations. Additionally, the company offers reinsurance on a property insurance contract; insurance agency services; brokerage services; and payment processing, merchant, wire transfer, private banking, and other related financial services. It operates through a network of 171 branches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia.