Critical Comparison: Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF) and First United (NASDAQ:FUNC)

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) and Mvb Financial (NASDAQ:MVBF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First United and Mvb Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First United	$121.42 million	2.01	$24.51 million	$3.77	9.98
Mvb Financial	$133.41 million	2.62	$20.09 million	$2.06	13.34

First United has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Mvb Financial. First United is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mvb Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

33.3% of First United shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.7% of Mvb Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.9% of First United shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of Mvb Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares First United and Mvb Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First United	20.19%	13.55%	1.29%
Mvb Financial	13.37%	2.12%	0.21%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for First United and Mvb Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First United	0	0	1	0	3.00
Mvb Financial	0	1	5	0	2.83

Mvb Financial has a consensus price target of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.45%. Given Mvb Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mvb Financial is more favorable than First United.

Dividends

First United pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Mvb Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. First United pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mvb Financial pays out 33.0% 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. First United has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. First United is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

First United has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mvb Financial has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First United beats Mvb Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First United

First United Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First United Bank & Trust that provides various retail and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. It offers various deposit products, which includes checking, savings, money market deposit, and regular and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), as well as certificates of deposit. The company loan portfolio includes commercial loans secured by real estate, commercial equipment, vehicles, or other assets of the borrower; commercial real estate loans for residential and commercial development, agricultural purpose properties, and service industry buildings, such as restaurants and motels, retail buildings, and general purpose business space; residential mortgage loans; home equity lines of credit; residential real estate construction loans; and indirect and direct auto loans, student loans, and other secured and unsecured lines of credit and term loans. It also offers access to multi-million-dollar certificates of deposit and the Intrafi cash service, including multi-million-dollar savings and demand deposits to municipalities, businesses, and consumers; and treasury management, cash sweep, and various checking services. In addition, the company provides trust services, which includes personal trust, investment agency accounts, charitable trusts, retirement accounts, including IRA roll-overs, 401(k) accounts and defined benefit plans, estate administration, and estate planning; and insurance products, brokerage services, and safe deposit and night depository facilities. First United Corporation was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Oakland, Maryland.

About Mvb Financial

MVB Financial Corp. operates as bank holding company for MVB Bank, Inc that provides financial services to individuals and corporate clients. The company operates through three segments: CoRe Banking, Mortgage Banking, and The Financial Holding Company. It offers various demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. The company also provides debit cards; cashier's checks; safe deposit rental facilities; and non-deposit investment services, as well as financial technology (Fintech) banking services. In addition, it offers fintech solutions for the gaming, payments, banking-as-a-service, and digital asset sectors; fraud prevention services for merchants, credit agencies, Fintech companies, and other vendors; and digital products and web and mobile applications for forward-thinking community banks, credit unions, digital banks, and Fintech companies. It operates full-service branches in West Virginia and Virginia. MVB Financial Corp. was founded in 1997 and is based in Fairmont, West Virginia.