Reviewing Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) & United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP)

Heartland BancCorp. (OTCMKTS:HLAN) and United Bancorp (NASDAQ:UBCP) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Heartland BancCorp. has a beta of 0.01, suggesting that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bancorp has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Heartland BancCorp. and United Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heartland BancCorp.	$119.21 million	2.74	$20.26 million	$9.76	16.39
United Bancorp	$29.81 million	2.76	$7.40 million	$1.24	11.45

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

Profitability

This table compares Heartland BancCorp. and United Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heartland BancCorp.	17.00%	N/A	N/A
United Bancorp	16.32%	11.64%	0.88%

Dividends

Heartland BancCorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. United Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Heartland BancCorp. pays out 15.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bancorp pays out 59.7% 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. United Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. United Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Heartland BancCorp. and United Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heartland BancCorp.	0	1	0	0	2.00
United Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Heartland BancCorp. currently has a consensus target price of $145.00, suggesting a potential downside of 9.38%. Given Heartland BancCorp.’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Heartland BancCorp. is more favorable than United Bancorp.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.5% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.4% of United Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.7% of Heartland BancCorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of United Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Heartland BancCorp. beats United Bancorp on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Heartland BancCorp.

Heartland BancCorp operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank that provides various banking and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts. It also provides various lending solutions comprising agricultural loans, commercial and business lending, home and personal loans, and title services. In addition, the company offers online banking, treasury management, credit and debit card, and mobile wallet services. Further, it provides education planning, insurance, wealth management, and retirement planning services. Heartland BancCorp was founded in 1911 and is based in Whitehall, Ohio.

About United Bancorp

United Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Unified Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services in Ohio. The company provides range of banking and financial services, which includes accepting demand, savings, and time deposits. It also offers commercial, real estate and consumer loans. United Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio.