Head-To-Head Survey: East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO)

United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) and East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares United Security Bancshares and East West Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Security Bancshares	18.65%	9.11%	1.01%
East West Bancorp	28.36%	16.04%	1.69%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for United Security Bancshares and East West Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Security Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00
East West Bancorp	1	4	10	0	2.60

East West Bancorp has a consensus target price of $127.62, suggesting a potential upside of 14.61%. Given East West Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Security Bancshares and East West Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Security Bancshares	$65.90 million	2.84	$14.78 million	$0.67	15.90
East West Bancorp	$4.67 billion	3.28	$1.17 billion	$9.07	12.28

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

Risk & Volatility

United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. United Security Bancshares pays out 71.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. East West Bancorp pays out 26.5% 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. United Security Bancshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and East West Bancorp has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 22.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

East West Bancorp beats United Security Bancshares on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Security Bancshares

United Security Bancshares operates as the bank holding company for United Security Bank, a state-chartered bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to the business and professional community, and individuals in California. The company accepts various deposit products, including personal and business checking accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, and time certificates of deposit. It also provides real estate mortgage, commercial and industrial, real estate construction and development, and consumer loans, as well as agricultural, installment, and student loans. In addition, the company offers online and mobile banking, safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, payroll direct deposit, cashier's check, cash management, and foreign draft services, as well as interactive teller machines; and person-to-person and bank-to-bank transfers for consumer customers. United Security Bancshares was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Fresno, California.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. It accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits. The company’s loan products include mortgage and home equity, commercial and residential real estate, working capital lines of credit, construction finance, trade finance, letters of credit, commercial business, affordable housing loans, asset-based lending, asset-backed finance, project finance, loan syndication, and equipment financing, as well as financing services for clients to facilitate their business transactions between the United States and Asia. It also provides various wealth management, treasury management, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk hedging services; and mobile and online banking services. The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.