Comparing USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) & Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG)

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) and Chemung Financial (NASDAQ:CHMG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for USCB Financial and Chemung Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
USCB Financial	0	0	3	1	3.25
Chemung Financial	0	4	0	0	2.00

USCB Financial presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.98%. Chemung Financial has a consensus target price of $54.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.29%. Given USCB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe USCB Financial is more favorable than Chemung Financial.

Profitability

This table compares USCB Financial and Chemung Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
USCB Financial	19.51%	13.39%	1.13%
Chemung Financial	9.58%	11.52%	0.93%

Dividends

USCB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Chemung Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. USCB Financial pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemung Financial pays out 58.1% 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. USCB Financial has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Chemung Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares USCB Financial and Chemung Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
USCB Financial	$143.97 million	2.40	$24.67 million	$1.47	11.69
Chemung Financial	$150.79 million	1.64	$23.67 million	$2.34	22.12

USCB Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Chemung Financial. USCB Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chemung Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.3% of USCB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of Chemung Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 49.5% of USCB Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.4% of Chemung Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

USCB Financial has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemung Financial has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

USCB Financial beats Chemung Financial on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers loan products, such as small business administration loans, yacht financing, residential and commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; foreign bank loans; and secured and unsecured consumer loans comprising personal loans, overdrafts, and deposit account collateralized loans. The company also offers lockbox, treasury, commercial payments, cash management, and online banking services, as well as provides title insurance policies for real estate transactions. USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Chemung Financial

Chemung Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Chemung Canal Trust Company that provides a range of banking, financing, fiduciary, and other financial services. The company provides demand, savings, and time deposits; non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts; and insured money market accounts. It also offers commercial and agricultural loans comprising loans to small to mid-sized businesses; commercial and residential mortgage loans; and consumer loans, including home equity lines of credit and home equity term loans. In addition, the company provides interest rate swaps, letters of credit, employee benefit plans, insurance products, mutual fund, brokerage, and tax preparation services. Further, it offers guardian, custodian, trustee, investment, pension, estate planning, and employee benefit administrative services, as well as acts as an agent for pension, profit-sharing, and other employee benefit trusts. Chemung Financial Corporation was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in Elmira, New York.