Head to Head Comparison: First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) versus United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO)

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for First Horizon and United Security Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Horizon	0	6	7	0	2.54
United Security Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

First Horizon presently has a consensus target price of $19.08, suggesting a potential downside of 9.72%. Given First Horizon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe First Horizon is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Horizon	15.43%	9.51%	1.01%
United Security Bancshares	25.78%	13.96%	1.45%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.3% of First Horizon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Horizon shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares First Horizon and United Security Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Horizon	$5.03 billion	2.23	$897.00 million	$1.38	15.31
United Security Bancshares	$65.95 million	2.58	$19.80 million	$1.02	9.64

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

Dividends

First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. First Horizon pays out 43.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Security Bancshares pays out 47.1% 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.

Risk & Volatility

First Horizon has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Horizon beats United Security Bancshares on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Horizon

First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through Regional Banking and Specialty Banking segments. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also accepts deposits; provides underwriting services for bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; financial planning; and offers investment and financial advisory services. In addition, it offers mortgage banking; loan syndications; brokerage services; commercial and business banking for business enterprises, consumer banking, and private client and wealth management services; capital markets, professional commercial real estate, mortgage warehouse and asset-based lending, franchise and equipment finance, tax credit finance, energy and healthcare finance, asset management, and corporate and correspondent banking services. Further, the company provides transaction processing services including check clearing services and remittance processing, credit cards, investment, and sale of mutual fund and retail insurances, as well as trust, fiduciary, and agency services. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

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.