Truxton (OTCMKTS:TRUX) and United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Head-To-Head Comparison

Truxton (OTCMKTS:TRUX) and United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Truxton and United Community Banks”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Truxton	$92.29 million	2.69	$21.48 million	$7.44	11.56
United Community Banks	$1.04 billion	3.90	$328.10 million	$2.61	13.02

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.3% of Truxton shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.3% of United Community Banks shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of United Community Banks shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Truxton and United Community Banks’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Truxton	23.28%	N/A	N/A
United Community Banks	21.35%	9.49%	1.20%

Dividends

Truxton pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Truxton pays out 47.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Community Banks pays out 38.3% 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.

Volatility & Risk

Truxton has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Community Banks has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Truxton and United Community Banks, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Truxton	0	0	0	0	0.00
United Community Banks	0	3	4	0	2.57

United Community Banks has a consensus price target of $39.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.79%. Given United Community Banks’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than Truxton.

Summary

United Community Banks beats Truxton on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Truxton

Truxton Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various banking, investment management, and trust administration services to individuals, businesses, and charitable institutions in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including demand, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also provides lending products, such as residential and commercial real estate mortgages, commercial loans, construction and land development loans, commercial and industrial loans, operating lines of credit, and loans to individual. In addition, the company offers strategic and capital advisory services, business banking, and treasury management services; and insurance products. The company was formerly known as NBT Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Truxton Corporation in May 2013. Truxton Corporation was founded in 2004 and is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also offers lending services, including real estate, consumer, and commercial loans, to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized commercial businesses, and non-profit organizations, as well as secured and unsecured, and mortgage loans. In addition, the company originate loans partially guaranteed by the SBA and USDA loan programs. Further, it provides wealth management services comprising financial planning, customized portfolio management, and investment advice; trust services to manage fiduciary assets; non-deposit investment products; and insurance products, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, and tax-deferred annuities, as well as invests in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, the U.S. treasury, the U.S. agency, and municipal obligations. Additionally, the company offers reinsurance on a property insurance contract; insurance agency services; brokerage services; and payment processing, merchant, wire transfer, private banking, and other related financial services. It operates through a network of 171 branches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia.