United Bancorporation of Alabama, Atmore, AL (UBAB)

A Case of United Banking in Opportunity Zones


Remarkably, even in this political climate, politicians have crossed party lines to arm financial institutions with new tools for developing America's most distressed communities.  

United Bank of Atmore, Alabama is putting some of these tools to good work!

What's the opportunity here for investors? They could nearly double their money in three years. I see UBAB earning over $3 per share, having book value over $23 per share, and trading in the $30's.

Disclosure: As of this posting, I own shares of UBAB and may subsequently either dispose of them or purchase more.


Prospective Buyers
Non-interest bearing deposits spell opportunity for any enterprising bank. 43% of United Bank's deposits fall in this category and are free to lend in the community.

First Bancshares, Hattiesburg, MS (FBMS)
Home BancShares, Conway, AR (HOMB)
Trustmark, Jackson, MS (TRMK)

Financial Snapshot
†as of 03/31/2018
Total assets:
$608M†
Tangible book value per share:   
$15.65†
NPAs to assets:
1.0%†
Price to book:
113%
Market cap:
$43.3M
Dividend yield:
0.8%
Trailing 12-month ROA:
0.7%†
Trailing 12-month ROE:
10.9%†
TARP:
$0*

*Redeemed $10.3M 11/2016

The Crew
David D Swift, Sr, Chairman
Robert R Jones III, President and CEO
Gwendolyn Bailey Braden, Executive VP and COO

The Skinny
United Bank is lending in communities desperately in need of capital:
  • Five of United Bank's 18 branches (28%) are located in Opportunity Zones (see map).

 United Bank uses a variety of contemporary tools for getting capital in the hands of area developers, entrepreneurs, and job creators:

United Bank may be in some economically distressed areas, but it is performing great!
  • The bank has #1 market share of deposits in 6 of the 15 towns where it has branches.
  • UBAB has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1983.
  • UBAB’s ROA and ROE are on a par with those of other banks in the country.

Sources
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4 comments :

  1. Peter QJuly 26, 2018 at 3:39 AM

    Phil,
    Can you recommend a service or website that will alert you when a chosen bank files a new Call Report? The banks file at such different times that a lot of time is wasted looking for reports that have not yet been filed. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil TimyanSeptember 3, 2018 at 7:40 AM

      Hello Peter!
      You are right, banks have different schedules for filing their call reports. The only rule is they are due 30 days after quarter end. I get mine from S & P Global Market Intelligence. https://platform.mi.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit#news/home It is expensive and not as good as the old SNL Service IMO. I don’t know of any others but you might try Complete Bank Data.
      https://www.completebankdata.com/ I have heard it’s really good.
      Best,
      Phil

      Delete
  2. JiSeptember 18, 2018 at 3:33 AM

    I remember they are in both SBA and USDA. Do these two programs share some kind of synergy in terms of talent required, infrastructure, etc? Could both program experience credit losses at the same time, or is there some diversification?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil TimyanNovember 11, 2018 at 9:20 AM

      Hello Ji!
      Thank you for reading and commenting. Sorry to be responding so late. I just now saw your feedback. And yes, United Bank offers both USDA for Community Reinvestment Opportunities and SBA Lending. They both could experience losses simultaneously but government guarantees would mitigate them and there is some diversification.
      Best, Phil

      Delete

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