Contrasting KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) & United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO)

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for KeyCorp and United Security Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KeyCorp	0	8	11	0	2.58
United Security Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

KeyCorp currently has a consensus target price of $19.58, indicating a potential upside of 21.37%. Given KeyCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe KeyCorp is more favorable than United Security Bancshares.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KeyCorp	-2.52%	8.73%	0.63%
United Security Bancshares	22.58%	11.54%	1.20%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.7% of KeyCorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of KeyCorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares KeyCorp and United Security Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KeyCorp	$4.39 billion	4.06	-$161.00 million	($0.30)	-53.78
United Security Bancshares	$51.56 million	3.01	$14.78 million	$0.86	10.41

United Security Bancshares has lower revenue, but higher earnings than KeyCorp. KeyCorp 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.

Volatility and Risk

KeyCorp has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

KeyCorp pays an annual dividend of $0.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. KeyCorp pays out -273.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Security Bancshares pays out 55.8% 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.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. It also provides a suite of banking and capital market products, such as syndicated finance, debt and equity capital market products, commercial payments, equipment finance, commercial mortgage banking, derivatives, foreign exchange, financial advisory, and public finance, as well as commercial mortgage loans to consumer, energy, healthcare, industrial, public sector, real estate, and technology sectors for middle market clients. In addition, the company offers community development financing, securities underwriting, brokerage, and investment banking services. The company was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

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.