United Bankshares Earnings Preview

United Bankshares (Nasdaq: UBSI) didn't hit the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors hope that it will rebound this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Jan. 26. United Bankshares is a bank holding company which, through its subsidiaries, offers a range of commercial and retail banking services and products.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on United Bankshares with analysts unanimously rating it hold. Analysts don't like United Bankshares as much as competitor First Citizens BancShares overall. One out of one analysts rate First Citizens BancShares a buy compared to zero of 10 for United Bankshares. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $88.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 20.8% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.41 per share. Estimates range from $0.40 to $0.48.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see UBSI as a good bet, with 70% giving it an "outperform" rating. The majority of Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars as 68.4% give it an "outperform" rating. Fools are keen on United Bankshares, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 28 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of United Bankshares, Inc., the stock has a mediocre CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
United Bankshares' profit has risen year over year by an average of 6.6% over the past five quarters. A year-over-year revenue increase last quarter snaps a streak of two consecutive quarters of revenue declines. Revenue rose 8.4% in the third quarter and fell 9.9% in the second quarter and 12.5% in the first quarter.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

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