Critical Contrast: Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY) vs. China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY)

Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY) and China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Swedbank and China Merchants Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Swedbank	3	3	0	0	1.50
China Merchants Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Swedbank and China Merchants Bank”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Swedbank	$11.08 billion	3.66	$3.35 billion	SEK 2.96	12.18
China Merchants Bank	$65.04 billion	2.53	$20.89 billion	$3.97	8.22

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

Risk & Volatility

Swedbank has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Merchants Bank has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Swedbank pays an annual dividend of SEK 1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. China Merchants Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Swedbank pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Merchants Bank pays out 14.4% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Swedbank and China Merchants Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Swedbank	30.27%	15.50%	1.07%
China Merchants Bank	32.75%	12.10%	1.20%

About Swedbank

Swedbank AB (publ) provides various banking products and services to private and corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the United States, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, and China. The company operates through three business areas: Swedish Banking, Baltic Banking, and Corporates and Institutions. It offers savings accounts, mutual funds and insurance savings, pension savings, institutional asset management, and other savings and investment products; private residential lending, consumer financing, corporate lending, leasing, and other financing products, as well as trade finance and factoring services; and current accounts, cash handling, debit and credit cards, and card acquiring, as well as domestic, international, mobile, document, and other payment products. The company also provides equity trading, structured products, corporate finance, custody services, fixed income and currency trading, and other capital market products; and administrative services, treasury operations, real estate brokerage and management services, legal services, safe deposit boxes, and other services. In addition, it offers pension insurance and plan, life, endowment insurance, and personal insurance products; investment management, investment banking, and mortgage lending services; and transaction banking services comprising cash management, securities, account, and clearing and settlement services, as well as Internet and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as ForeningsSparbanken AB and changed its name to Swedbank AB (publ) in September 2006. Swedbank AB (publ) was founded in 1820 and is headquartered in Sundbyberg, Sweden.

About China Merchants Bank

China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services. It operates through Wholesale Finance Business, Retail Finance Business, and Other Business segments. The company offers current, demand, time, call, savings, notice, and renminbi accounts. Its loan products include personal commercial real estate, consumption, housing, and car loans; loans to finance for studying abroad; micro-business loans; mortgage loans for equipment; joint guarantee, special guarantee, and housing mortgage loan; bank acceptance, discount, liquid capital, and fixed asset loans; and loans for vessels. The company also offers credit cards; insurance products; open-ended funds; discount and guarantees for commercial bills, redemption of commercial bills, and guaranteed discount for commercial acceptance bills; and financial consultation, debt financing underwriting, merger and acquisition financing, and equity financing and enterprise listing services. In addition, it provides forfeiting and risk participation, escrow, cross-border RMB clearing, and interbank services; and risk and financial management, cross-border RMB and oversea financing, international factoring and settlement, and trade finance services. Further, the company offers financial leasing and guarantee, investment and wealth management, forex option and gold trading, forex express trading, international, offshore and private banking, custody, pension, and electronic banking services. The company also operates in Hong Kong, New York, London, Singapore, Luxembourg, Sydney, and Taipei. China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.