Critical Review: United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) & Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC)

Bank First (NASDAQ:BFC) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Bank First and United Security Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank First	0	1	0	0	2.00
United Security Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bank First presently has a consensus price target of $104.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.81%. Given Bank First’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Bank First is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Profitability

This table compares Bank First and United Security Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank First	29.00%	10.53%	1.56%
United Security Bancshares	22.58%	11.54%	1.20%

Volatility and Risk

Bank First has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.0% of Bank First shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Bank First shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bank First and United Security Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank First	$154.64 million	6.54	$65.56 million	$6.50	15.56
United Security Bancshares	$51.56 million	3.04	$14.78 million	$0.86	10.55

Bank First has higher revenue and earnings than United Security Bancshares. United Security Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank First, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Bank First pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Bank First pays out 27.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Security Bancshares pays out 55.8% 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.

Summary

Bank First beats United Security Bancshares on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank First

Bank First Corporation operates as a holding company for Bank First, N.A. that provides consumer and commercial financial services to businesses, professionals, consumers, associations, individuals, and governmental authorities in Wisconsin. It offers checking, savings, money market, cash management, retirement, and health savings accounts; other time deposits; certificates of deposit; and residential mortgage products. The company's loan products include real estate loans, including commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and home equity loans; commercial and industrial loans for working capital, accounts receivable, inventory financing, and other business purposes; construction and development loans; residential 1-4 family loans; and consumer loans for personal and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment loans, and revolving lines of credit. It also provides credit cards; ATM processing; insurance; data processing and other information technology; investment and safekeeping; treasury management; and online, telephone, and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as Bank First National Corporation and changed its name to Bank First Corporation in June 2019. Bank First Corporation was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

About United Security Bancshares

United Security Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for United Security Bank, a state-chartered bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to the business and professional community, and individuals in California. The company accepts various deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, and time certificates of deposit. It also provides real estate mortgage, commercial and industrial, real estate construction and development, and consumer loans, as well as agricultural, installment, and student loans. In addition, the company offers online and mobile banking, safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, payroll direct deposit, cashier's check, cash management, and foreign draft services, as well as interactive teller machines; and person-to-person and bank-to-bank transfers for consumer customers. United Security Bancshares was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Fresno, California.