M&F Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MFBP) vs. United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) Head to Head Analysis

M&F Bancorp (OTCMKTS:MFBP) and United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.8% of United Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of M&F Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of United Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

M&F Bancorp has a beta of -0.5, indicating that its stock price is 150% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Bankshares has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for M&F Bancorp and United Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
M&F Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
United Bankshares	0	4	1	0	2.20

United Bankshares has a consensus target price of $40.50, suggesting a potential upside of 8.90%. Given United Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe United Bankshares is more favorable than M&F Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares M&F Bancorp and United Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
M&F Bancorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
United Bankshares	23.14%	7.65%	1.26%

Dividends

M&F Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. United Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. United Bankshares pays out 52.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Bankshares has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years. United Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares M&F Bancorp and United Bankshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
M&F Bancorp	$29.33 million	1.26	$4.77 million	N/A	N/A
United Bankshares	$1.12 billion	4.72	$373.00 million	$2.83	13.14

United Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than M&F Bancorp.

Summary

United Bankshares beats M&F Bancorp on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About M&F Bancorp

M&F Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for the Mechanics and Farmers Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in North Carolina. It offers deposit products, including demand deposits; checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company provides loans for commercial and residential real estate, and construction; and consumer and other loans; as well as ATM services. M&F Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts. Its loan products include commercial loans and leases to small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies; construction and real estate loans, such as commercial and residential mortgages, and loans secured by owner-occupied real estate; personal, student, credit card receivables, personal, commercial, and floor plan loans; and home equity loans. In addition, the company provides credit cards; safe deposit boxes, wire transfers, and other banking products and services; investment and security services; services to correspondent banks, including buying and selling federal funds; automated teller machine services; and internet and telephone banking services. Further, it offers community banking services, such as asset management, real property title insurance, financial planning, mortgage banking, and brokerage services, as well as investment management and retirement planning services. United Bankshares, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.