Barclays (NYSE:BCS) versus China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY) Head to Head Analysis

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Barclays 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
Barclays	$38.42 billion	2.04	$9.46 billion	$2.40	9.56
China Merchants Bank	$65.04 billion	2.30	$20.89 billion	$4.03	7.37

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Barclays and China Merchants Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barclays	0	4	3	0	2.43
China Merchants Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.4% of Barclays shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barclays	21.10%	8.12%	0.39%
China Merchants Bank	32.40%	12.14%	1.21%

Dividends

Barclays pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. China Merchants Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Barclays pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Merchants Bank pays out 14.1% 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.

Volatility and Risk

Barclays has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Merchants Bank has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

China Merchants Bank beats Barclays on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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.