Analyzing Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) & Alior Bank (OTCMKTS:ALORY)

Alior Bank (OTCMKTS:ALORY) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are both financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Alior Bank and Bank of America, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alior Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A
Bank of America	1	7	8	0	2.44

Bank of America has a consensus price target of $38.29, indicating a potential upside of 10.42%. Given Bank of America’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of America is more favorable than Alior Bank.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.7% of Bank of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Bank of America 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 Alior Bank and Bank of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alior Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bank of America	15.42%	11.38%	0.93%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alior Bank and Bank of America’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alior Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A	C$1.48	1.40
Bank of America	$171.91 billion	1.59	$26.52 billion	$3.07	11.30

Bank of America has higher revenue and earnings than Alior Bank. Alior Bank is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Bank of America beats Alior Bank on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alior Bank

Alior Bank S.A. provides banking products and services for individuals, businesses, and enterprises in Poland. The company offers personal and savings accounts; personal banking; investment products; credits and loans; mortgage products; cards; and insurance services. It also provides bills and cards, trade finance, deposits, treasury products, deposits and investment services, internet banking, and operating and financial leasing services, as well as issues commercial bonds. In addition, the company offers retirement pension products and investments fund services; and operates currency trading platforms. Alior Bank S.A. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets. The Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; credit and debit cards; residential mortgages, and home equity loans; and direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans. The GWIM segment provides investment management, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products and services; wealth management solutions; and customized solutions, including specialty asset management services. The Global Banking segment offers lending products and services, including commercial loans, leases, commitment facilities, trade finance, and commercial real estate and asset-based lending; treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, short-term investing options, and merchant services; working capital management solutions; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, and merger-related and other advisory services; and fixed-income and equity research, and certain market-based services. The Global Markets segment provides market-making, financing, securities clearing, settlement, and custody services; securities and derivative products; and risk management products using interest rate, equity, credit, currency and commodity derivatives, foreign exchange, fixed-income, and mortgage-related products. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1784 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.