Union Bankshares (UNB) & Its Peers Critical Comparison

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) is one of 920 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Union Bankshares to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Union Bankshares’ peers have a beta of 0.61, meaning that their average share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Union Bankshares	12.68%	14.82%	0.78%
Union Bankshares Competitors	15.63%	9.45%	0.93%

Dividends

Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Union Bankshares pays out 54.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.4% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Union Bankshares lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

14.8% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Union Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Union Bankshares and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Union Bankshares	$57.36 million	$11.08 million	8.66
Union Bankshares Competitors	$37.78 billion	$2.41 billion	16.74

Union Bankshares’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Union Bankshares. Union Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Union Bankshares and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Union Bankshares	0	1	0	0	2.00
Union Bankshares Competitors	7458	30170	27723	1451	2.35

As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 15.70%. Given Union Bankshares’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Union Bankshares has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

Union Bankshares peers beat Union Bankshares on 14 of the 15 factors compared.

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.