ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) & United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Critical Comparison

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) and ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares United Community Banks and ICICI Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Community Banks	24.43%	9.61%	1.24%
ICICI Bank	25.60%	13.81%	1.82%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Community Banks and ICICI Bank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Community Banks	$1.54 billion	2.66	$328.10 million	$3.04	11.15
ICICI Bank	$22.73 billion	4.40	$6.13 billion	$1.58	17.64

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

Dividends

United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. ICICI Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. United Community Banks pays out 34.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ICICI Bank pays out 13.3% 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.

Volatility and Risk

United Community Banks has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ICICI Bank has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for United Community Banks and ICICI Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Community Banks	0	3	4	1	2.75
ICICI Bank	0	2	1	1	2.75

United Community Banks currently has a consensus target price of $39.60, indicating a potential upside of 16.78%. Given United Community Banks’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than ICICI Bank.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

82.3% of United Community Banks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.2% of ICICI Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of United Community Banks shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

ICICI Bank beats United Community Banks on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also offers lending services, including real estate, consumer, and commercial loans, to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized commercial businesses, and non-profit organizations, as well as secured and unsecured, and mortgage loans. In addition, the company originate loans partially guaranteed by the SBA and USDA loan programs. Further, it provides wealth management services comprising financial planning, customized portfolio management, and investment advice; trust services to manage fiduciary assets; non-deposit investment products; and insurance products, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, and tax-deferred annuities, as well as invests in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, the U.S. treasury, the U.S. agency, and municipal obligations. Additionally, the company offers reinsurance on a property insurance contract; insurance agency services; brokerage services; and payment processing, merchant, wire transfer, private banking, and other related financial services. It operates through a network of 171 branches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia.

About ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank Limited provides various banking products and services in India and internationally. It operates through Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, Treasury, Other Banking, Life Insurance, and Others segments. The company offers savings, salary, pension, current, and other accounts; and time, fixed, recurring, and security deposits services. It also provides home, car, two-wheeler, personal, gold, and commercial business loans, as well as loans against securities and other loans; business loans, including working capital finance, term loans, collateral free loans, loans without financials, finance for importers and exporters, and overdraft facilities, as well as loans for new entities and card swipes; and credit, debit, prepaid, travel, forex, and corporate cards. In addition, the company offers pockets wallet; fixed income products; investment products, such as mutual funds, gold monetization schemes, initial public offerings, and other online investment services; and agri and rural business, farmer finance, tractor loans, and micro banking services, as well as other services to agri corporates. Further, it provides portfolio management, trade, foreign exchange, locker, private and NRI banking, and cash management services; family wealth and demat accounts; commercial and investment banking, capital market, custodial, and institutional banking services; health, personal accident, fire, and motor insurance, as well as distributes general and life insurance products; and Internet, mobile, and phone banking services. Additionally, the company offers securities investment, broking, trading, and underwriting services; and merchant banking, trusteeship, housing finance, pension fund management, asset management, investment advisory, points of presence, and private equity/venture capital fund management services. ICICI Bank Limited was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India.