Contrasting Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWD) and United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB)

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

Risk and Volatility

United Community Banks has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Finward Bancorp has a beta of 0.15, indicating that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Finward Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. United Community Banks pays out 88.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Finward Bancorp pays out 27.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for United Community Banks and Finward Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Community Banks	0	2	4	2	3.00
Finward Bancorp	0	1	2	0	2.67

United Community Banks currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.99%. Finward Bancorp has a consensus target price of $41.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.33%. Given United Community Banks’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than Finward Bancorp.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

82.3% of United Community Banks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Finward Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of United Community Banks shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of Finward Bancorp shares are owned 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Community Banks	9.06%	9.66%	1.23%
Finward Bancorp	7.52%	4.39%	0.38%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares United Community Banks and Finward Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Community Banks	$1.54 billion	2.88	$328.10 million	$1.18	31.10
Finward Bancorp	$101.06 million	1.86	$8.09 million	$1.77	24.47

United Community Banks has higher revenue and earnings than Finward Bancorp. Finward Bancorp 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.

Summary

United Community Banks beats Finward Bancorp on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company’s deposit products include non-interest- and interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificate accounts, and retirement savings plans. Its loan products portfolio comprises residential mortgage loans that enable borrowers to purchase existing homes, refinance existing homes, or construct new homes; construction loans primarily to individuals and contractors; commercial real estate loans; consumer loans to individuals for personal, household, or family purposes; home equity line of credit; home improvement loans and equity loans; commercial business loans; government loans; and loans to municipalities. The company also offers estate and retirement planning, custodial services, guardianships, IRA accounts, and investment agency accounts, as well as serves as the personal representative of estates, and acts as trustee for revocable and irrevocable trusts. In addition, it provides insurance and annuity investments to wealth management customers; holds real estate properties; and operates as a real estate investment trust. The company was formerly known as NorthWest Indiana Bancorp and changed its name to Finward Bancorp in May 2021. Finward Bancorp was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Munster, Indiana.