ASB vs. UCBI, ABCB, SFBS, IBOC, FBP, FHB, FIBK, CATY, AUB, and HWC
Should you be buying Associated Banc stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Associated Banc include United Community Banks (UCBI), Ameris Bancorp (ABCB), ServisFirst Bancshares (SFBS), International Bancshares (IBOC), First BanCorp. (FBP), First Hawaiian (FHB), First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK), Cathay General Bancorp (CATY), Atlantic Union Bankshares (AUB), and Hancock Whitney (HWC). These companies are all part of the "state commercial banks" industry.
United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, community ranking and profitability.
In the previous week, Associated Banc had 10 more articles in the media than United Community Banks. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Associated Banc and 13 mentions for United Community Banks. Associated Banc's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat United Community Banks' score of 0.39 indicating that United Community Banks is being referred to more favorably in the media.
United Community Banks received 67 more outperform votes than Associated Banc when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 56.43% of users gave United Community Banks an outperform vote while only 50.85% of users gave Associated Banc an outperform vote.
United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. United Community Banks pays out 59.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc pays out 88.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. United Community Banks has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years and Associated Banc has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Associated Banc is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
United Community Banks has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Associated Banc. United Community Banks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Associated Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
United Community Banks currently has a consensus target price of $30.60, indicating a potential upside of 19.34%. Associated Banc has a consensus target price of $23.13, indicating a potential upside of 7.11%. Given Associated Banc's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than Associated Banc.
82.3% of United Community Banks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of United Community Banks shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Associated Banc shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
United Community Banks has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Banc has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.
United Community Banks has a net margin of 13.62% compared to United Community Banks' net margin of 6.86%. United Community Banks' return on equity of 8.31% beat Associated Banc's return on equity.
Summary
United Community Banks beats Associated Banc on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ASB and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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