Reviewing CPB (NYSE:CPF) & Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB)

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

Dividends

Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. CPB pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Union Bankshares pays out 55.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CPB pays out 38.5% 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. CPB has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Union Bankshares and CPB, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Union Bankshares	0	1	0	0	2.00
CPB	0	2	2	1	2.80

CPB has a consensus price target of $39.33, indicating a potential upside of 3.17%. Given CPB’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CPB is more favorable than Union Bankshares.

Volatility & Risk

Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CPB has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Union Bankshares and CPB”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Union Bankshares	$86.06 million	1.37	$11.08 million	$2.61	9.10
CPB	$365.98 million	2.68	$77.48 million	$3.12	12.22

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

14.8% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.4% of CPB shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of CPB shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Union Bankshares	13.50%	14.70%	0.76%
CPB	22.52%	14.20%	1.13%

Summary

CPB beats Union Bankshares on 15 of the 18 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 CPB

Central Pacific Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Central Pacific Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and individuals in the United States. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, savings and time deposits, cash management and digital banking, trust, and retail brokerage services, as well as money market accounts and certificates of deposit. The company also provides various lending activities, such as commercial, commercial and residential mortgage, home equity, and consumer loans; and other products and services comprising debit cards, internet and mobile banking, cash management services, full-service ATMs, safe deposit boxes, international banking services, night depository facilities, foreign exchange, and wire transfers. In addition, it offers wealth management products and services that include non-deposit investment products, annuities, insurance, investment management, asset custody and general consultation, and planning services. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.