Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) Head-To-Head Review

Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Plumas Bancorp pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Security Bancshares pays out 67.6% 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. Plumas Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and United Security Bancshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. United Security Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plumas Bancorp	$112.17 million	3.26	$29.62 million	$4.54	11.59
United Security Bancshares	$65.90 million	3.02	$12.29 million	$0.71	15.93

Plumas Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than United Security Bancshares. Plumas 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 7.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plumas Bancorp	26.40%	16.28%	1.86%
United Security Bancshares	18.65%	9.11%	1.01%

Volatility & Risk

Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	3	0	3.00
United Security Bancshares	0	0	1	0	3.00

Plumas Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $55.50, suggesting a potential upside of 5.49%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Summary

Plumas Bancorp beats United Security Bancshares on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

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.