Contrasting Commonwealth Business Bank (OTCMKTS:CBBI) & USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB)

Commonwealth Business Bank (OTCMKTS:CBBI) and USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.3% of USCB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 49.5% of USCB Financial 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Commonwealth Business Bank and USCB Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commonwealth Business Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
USCB Financial	0	1	3	1	3.00

USCB Financial has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.99%. Given USCB Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe USCB Financial is more favorable than Commonwealth Business Bank.

Volatility & Risk

Commonwealth Business Bank has a beta of 0.15, meaning that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, USCB Financial has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Commonwealth Business Bank and USCB Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commonwealth Business Bank	14.80%	N/A	N/A
USCB Financial	16.36%	14.86%	1.20%

Dividends

Commonwealth Business Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. USCB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Commonwealth Business Bank pays out 29.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. USCB Financial pays out 38.5% 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. USCB Financial has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Commonwealth Business Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Commonwealth Business Bank and USCB Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commonwealth Business Bank	$120.93 million	0.94	$22.43 million	$1.68	6.38
USCB Financial	$159.60 million	2.23	$26.10 million	$1.30	14.98

USCB Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Commonwealth Business Bank. Commonwealth Business Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than USCB Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

USCB Financial beats Commonwealth Business Bank on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commonwealth Business Bank

CBB Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Commonwealth Business Bank that provides various commercial banking products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers checking, savings, money market, and certification of deposit accounts; SBA lending; business lines of credit; business term loans; business and commercial property loans; construction loans; and credit cards. The company also provides treasury management, and mobile and online banking services, as well as title and escrow services. In addition, it engages in investing activities; and offers trade finance services, including commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and documentary collection services. The company offers its services through full-service and limited-service branches in Southern California, Dallas, Texas and Honolulu, and Hawaii; and loan production offices in the states of Colorado, Georgia, Texas, and Washington. CBB Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for U.S. Century Bank that engages in the provision of various personal and business banking products and services in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including commercial and consumer checking, money market deposit, savings, and time deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers loan products, such as small business administration loans, yacht financing, residential and commercial real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; foreign bank loans; and secured and unsecured consumer loans comprising personal loans, overdrafts, and deposit account collateralized loans. The company also offers lockbox, treasury, commercial payments, cash management, and online banking services, as well as provides title insurance policies for real estate transactions. USCB Financial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.