Financial Survey: Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) versus LINKBANCORP (NASDAQ:LNKB)

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) and LINKBANCORP (NASDAQ:LNKB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Atlantic Union Bankshares and LINKBANCORP’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlantic Union Bankshares	15.53%	8.95%	1.07%
LINKBANCORP	-5.10%	5.47%	0.56%

Dividends

Atlantic Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. LINKBANCORP pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays out 47.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LINKBANCORP pays out -115.4% 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. Atlantic Union Bankshares has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. LINKBANCORP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Atlantic Union Bankshares and LINKBANCORP, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlantic Union Bankshares	0	1	4	0	2.80
LINKBANCORP	0	1	0	0	2.00

Atlantic Union Bankshares currently has a consensus target price of $39.60, indicating a potential downside of 5.47%. LINKBANCORP has a consensus target price of $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.49%. Given LINKBANCORP’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe LINKBANCORP is more favorable than Atlantic Union Bankshares.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.5% of LINKBANCORP shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 35.8% of LINKBANCORP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Atlantic Union Bankshares and LINKBANCORP’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlantic Union Bankshares	$1.05 billion	3.60	$201.82 million	$2.72	15.40
LINKBANCORP	$66.29 million	4.16	-$11.97 million	($0.26)	-28.42

Atlantic Union Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than LINKBANCORP. LINKBANCORP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atlantic Union Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Atlantic Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LINKBANCORP has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Atlantic Union Bankshares beats LINKBANCORP on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes, as well as debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides treasury management and capital market, wealth management, private banking, trust, financial and retirement planning, brokerage, investment management, equipment finance, mortgage banking, and insurance products and services. The company offers products and services through full-service branches and ATMs, as well as through its mobile and internet banking. The company was formerly known as Union Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in May 2019. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About LINKBANCORP

LINKBANCORP, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for The Gratz Bank, that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, nonprofit, and business customers in Pennsylvania. Its deposit products include demand, saving, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposits. The company also offers commercial real estate, commercial business, commercial real estate construction, land development, residential real estate, home equity, consumer, agricultural, and municipal loans. It also provides online banking, mobile banking, direct and remote deposit, and cash management services. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.