Contrasting Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) and United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCMKTS:UBAB)

Eagle Bancorp Montana (NASDAQ:EBMT) and United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCMKTS:UBAB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.5% of United Bancorporation of Alabama shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.7% of Eagle Bancorp Montana shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Eagle Bancorp Montana pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. United Bancorporation of Alabama pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Eagle Bancorp Montana pays out 50.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorporation of Alabama pays out 11.7% 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Eagle Bancorp Montana is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and United Bancorporation of Alabama’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Bancorp Montana	7.06%	5.07%	0.41%
United Bancorporation of Alabama	31.02%	23.28%	2.18%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eagle Bancorp Montana and United Bancorporation of Alabama”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Bancorp Montana	$79.91 million	1.69	$10.06 million	$1.12	15.00
United Bancorporation of Alabama	$87.26 million	2.21	$31.54 million	$8.53	6.37

United Bancorporation of Alabama has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Bancorp Montana. United Bancorporation of Alabama is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eagle Bancorp Montana, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Eagle Bancorp Montana has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bancorporation of Alabama has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Eagle Bancorp Montana and United Bancorporation of Alabama, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Bancorp Montana	0	1	0	0	2.00
United Bancorporation of Alabama	0	0	0	0	N/A

Eagle Bancorp Montana currently has a consensus price target of $13.50, indicating a potential downside of 19.64%. Given Eagle Bancorp Montana’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Eagle Bancorp Montana is more favorable than United Bancorporation of Alabama.

Summary

United Bancorporation of Alabama beats Eagle Bancorp Montana on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eagle Bancorp Montana

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Opportunity Bank of Montana that provides various retail banking products and services to small businesses and individuals in Montana. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides 1-4 family residential mortgage loans, such as residential mortgages and construction of residential properties; commercial real estate loans, including multi-family dwellings, nonresidential property, commercial construction and development, and farmland loans; and second mortgage/home equity loans. In addition, it offers consumer loans, such as loans secured by collateral other than real estate, such as automobiles, recreational vehicles, and boats; personal loans and lines of credit; commercial business loans consisting of business loans and lines of credit on a secured and unsecured basis; construction loans; agricultural loans; and mortgage loan services. The company operates full-service branches and automated teller machines. Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Helena, Montana.

About United Bancorporation of Alabama

United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Bank that provides banking services. The company offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, small business programs, business solutions, merchant services, and cash management services. It also provides various lending services, such as personal loans, business loans, lines of credit, and equipment loans; real estate loans for the agricultural community and working lines of credit; and overdraft services. In addition, the company offers debit cards, prepaid cards, Visa credit cards, gift cards, and safe deposit boxes. Further, it provides check cashing, convenience, remote deposit, mobile check deposit, personal storage compartments, Web payment options, insurance products, investment and brokerage, and online and mobile banking services. United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is based in Atmore, Alabama.