Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) Financial Contrast

Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF) and United Security Bancshares (NASDAQ:UBFO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

3.7% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 39.5% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of United Security Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Chesapeake Financial Shares has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Security Bancshares has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Chesapeake Financial Shares and United Security Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chesapeake Financial Shares	0	0	0	0	N/A
United Security Bancshares	0	0	0	0	N/A

Dividends

Chesapeake Financial Shares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. United Security Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Security Bancshares pays out 46.2% 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. United Security Bancshares has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. United Security Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chesapeake Financial Shares	10.68%	9.72%	0.64%
United Security Bancshares	27.07%	15.14%	1.42%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chesapeake Financial Shares and United Security Bancshares’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chesapeake Financial Shares	$82.72 million	0.96	$10.12 million	$1.95	8.59
United Security Bancshares	$65.95 million	1.91	$19.80 million	$1.04	7.01

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

Summary

United Security Bancshares beats Chesapeake Financial Shares on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chesapeake Financial Shares

Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Chesapeake Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts interest and noninterest checking, savings, and money market accounts; and variable-rate and fixed-term money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers mortgage, and single-family residential and residential construction loans; commercial loans, which include owner-occupied commercial development, retail, builders/contractors, medical, service and professional, hospitality, nonprofits, marine industry, and agricultural and seafood loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company provides merchant processing, accounts receivable financing, wealth management and trust, and mortgage banking services, as well as cash management services. The company was founded in 1900 and is based in Kilmarnock, Virginia.

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.