Head-To-Head Contrast: Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) vs. Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB)

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) and Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

14.8% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.5% of Carter Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Carter Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carter Bankshares has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Union Bankshares and Carter Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Union Bankshares	0	1	0	0	2.00
Carter Bankshares	0	2	1	1	2.75

Carter Bankshares has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.42%. Given Carter Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Carter Bankshares is more favorable than Union Bankshares.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Union Bankshares and Carter Bankshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Union Bankshares	$77.68 million	1.47	$8.76 million	$2.50	9.99
Carter Bankshares	$243.10 million	1.86	$24.27 million	$1.36	15.06

Carter Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Union Bankshares. Union Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carter Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Union Bankshares and Carter Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Union Bankshares	13.16%	15.88%	0.74%
Carter Bankshares	12.37%	7.65%	0.65%

Summary

Carter Bankshares beats Union Bankshares on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Union Bankshares

Union Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial loans for plant and equipment, working capital, real estate renovation, and other business purposes to business owners and investors; small business administration guaranteed loans; residential construction and mortgage loans; municipal financing, including loans and excess deposits secured by FHLBB letters of credit; and home improvement loans and overdraft checking privileges against preauthorized lines of credit. In addition, it offers online cash management services, including account reconciliation, credit card depository, automated clearing house origination, wire transfers, positive pay and night depository services; merchant credit card services for the deposit and immediate credit of sales drafts; remote deposit capture services; and online mortgage application and consumer deposit account opening services. Further, the company provides business checking accounts; standby letters of credit, bank checks or money orders, and safe deposit boxes; ATM cards and services; debit cards; telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, including bill pay; and wealth management, fiduciary, and trust services. It offers retail banking services to individuals; and commercial banking services to small and medium sized business corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships, as well as nonprofit organizations, local municipalities, and school districts. Union Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Morrisville, Vermont.

About Carter Bankshares

Carter Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Carter Bank & Trust that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, retirement, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also offers commercial loans comprising secured and unsecured loans; consumer loans, such as secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education, overdraft protection, and personal investments, as well as residential mortgages; real estate construction, acquisition, commercial, and industrial loans; home equity lines of credit; and credit cards, as well as originates and holds fixed and variable rate mortgage loans. In addition, it provides other banking services that include safe deposit boxes, direct deposit of payroll, and social security checks; online banking products, including online and mobile banking, online account opening, bill pay, e-statement, mobile deposit, digital wallet, and ATM services; title insurance and other financial institution-related products and services; and treasury and corporate cash management services. Carter Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia.