United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) & Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) Head to Head Contrast

United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) and Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares United Security Bancshares and Banco Santander Chile”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Security Bancshares	$53.51 million	3.39	$12.29 million	$0.71	14.80
Banco Santander Chile	$2,955.13 billion	0.01	$1.12 billion	$2.62	13.62

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for United Security Bancshares and Banco Santander Chile, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Security Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00
Banco Santander Chile	1	4	3	1	2.44

Banco Santander Chile has a consensus price target of $35.40, suggesting a potential downside of 0.78%. Given Banco Santander Chile’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Banco Santander Chile is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Profitability

This table compares United Security Bancshares and Banco Santander Chile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Security Bancshares	18.65%	9.03%	1.01%
Banco Santander Chile	27.04%	22.94%	1.70%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.4% of Banco Santander Chile shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Banco Santander Chile pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. United Security Bancshares pays out 67.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banco Santander Chile pays out 41.6% 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 Security Bancshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. United Security Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Santander Chile has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Banco Santander Chile beats United Security Bancshares on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services. It also provides mutual fund management, insurance and securities brokerage, foreign exchange services, financial leasing, financial consulting and advisory, investment management, foreign trade, leasing, factoring, treasury, and transactional services, as well as specialized services to finance residential projects. In addition, the company offers short-term financing and fundraising, and brokerage services, as well as derivatives, securitization, and other products; and manages capital allocations. It serves individuals, small to middle-sized entities, companies, and large corporations, as well as universities, government entities, and local and regional governments. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Banco Santander-Chile operates as a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.