Reviewing Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP)

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.4% of United Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Wintrust Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of United Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Wintrust Financial pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorp pays out 57.8% 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. Wintrust Financial has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and United Bancorp has increased 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.

Risk and Volatility

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bancorp has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Wintrust Financial and United Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0	2	10	1	2.92
United Bancorp	0	1	0	0	2.00

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus price target of $168.92, indicating a potential upside of 16.83%. Given Wintrust Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than United Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Wintrust Financial and United Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	20.11%	13.15%	1.25%
United Bancorp	16.29%	11.89%	0.91%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wintrust Financial and United Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wintrust Financial	$4.23 billion	2.31	$823.84 million	$11.93	12.12
United Bancorp	$32.89 million	2.72	$7.75 million	$1.35	11.49

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

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats United Bancorp on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services. It also engages in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages; and provision of lending, deposits, and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner, and community associations, as well as asset-based lending for middle-market companies. In addition, this segment offers loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies; lending to restaurant franchisees; direct leasing; small business administration loans; commercial mortgages and construction loans; and financial solutions. It provides personal and commercial banking services primarily to individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local governmental units, and institutional clients. The Specialty Finance segment offers commercial and life insurance premiums financing for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, and out-sourced administrative services; other specialty finance services; equipment financing through structured loan and lease products; and property and casualty premium financing; as well as data processing of payrolls, billing, and cash management services to temporary staffing industry. The Wealth Management segment provides wealth management services, such as trust and investment, asset management, tax-deferred exchange, securities brokerage, and retirement plan services. Wintrust Financial Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois.

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.