Comparing Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY) & BanColombia (NYSE:CIB)

BanColombia (NYSE:CIB) and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares BanColombia and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BanColombia	15.30%	19.77%	2.23%
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	15.69%	13.22%	0.71%

Dividends

BanColombia pays an annual dividend of $5.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.0%. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.2%. BanColombia pays out 86.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays out 96.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. BanColombia is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares BanColombia and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BanColombia	$10.55 billion	1.18	$1.25 billion	$6.59	7.83
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	$17.44 billion	N/A	$2.60 billion	$0.62	10.52

Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ has higher revenue and earnings than BanColombia. BanColombia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for BanColombia and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BanColombia	2	1	1	1	2.20
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	2	5	0	0	1.71

BanColombia currently has a consensus price target of $43.75, suggesting a potential downside of 15.23%. Given BanColombia’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe BanColombia is more favorable than Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ.

Volatility & Risk

BanColombia has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BanColombia beats Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BanColombia

Bancolombia S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services in Colombia and internationally. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other. It offers checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, time deposits, fixed term deposits, and investment products; trade financing, loans funded by domestic development banks, working capital loans, credit cards, personal and vehicle loans, payroll loans, and overdrafts; factoring; and financial and operating leasing services. The company provides hedging instruments, including futures, forwards, options, and swaps; and brokerage, investment advisory, and private banking services comprising selling and distributing equities, futures, foreign currencies, fixed income securities, mutual funds, and structured products. In addition, it offers cash management services; foreign currency and trade finance solutions; letters of credit and bills collection; insurance and bancassurance products; telephone and mobile phone banking services; and online and computer banking services. Further, the company provides project and acquisition finance, loan syndication, corporate loans, debt and equity capital markets, principal investments, mergers and acquisition, hedging strategy advisories, restructurings, and structured financing; mutual and pension funds, private equity funds, payment and corporate trust, and custody; internet-based trading platform; inter-bank lending and repurchase agreements; managing escrow accounts, and investment and real estate funds; credit cards; roadside and medical assistance services; and transportation, maintenance and remodeling, and outsourcing services, as well as provides technology services. Bancolombia S.A. was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Medellín, Colombia.

About Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ

Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) provides various banking products and services for private and corporate customers primarily in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, the United States, Luxembourg, Finland, and Poland. The company offers savings, transactions, business, currency, and investment accounts, as well as accounts for cash pool, and forestry and agriculture; mortgage and committed loans, and private loans; mutual funds; pension products; credit and debit cards; and payment and reconciliation services, as well as foreign exchange rate services. It also provides financing for investments, such as equipment, cars, computers, and other inventories, as well as vehicle and real estate financing services; green loans and advisor services; investment and other financing services; medical care, and group and health insurance products; forestry and farming banking products; and online and mobile banking services, as well as various banking services for children and young people. In addition, the company offers financial services, that includes asset management, transactional banking, corporate finance, financing, markets, trade finance, market information and research services to large corporations; cash management solutions; and various corporate banking services to small and medium-sized companies and large corporates, as well as private banking services. Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) was incorporated in 1871 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.