Reviewing Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY) and Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB)

Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY) and Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Credit Agricole has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western New England Bancorp has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.6% of Credit Agricole shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.0% of Western New England Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Western New England Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Credit Agricole pays an annual dividend of $0.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Western New England Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Credit Agricole pays out 35.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western New England Bancorp pays out 31.5% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Credit Agricole and Western New England Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Credit Agricole	0	4	1	0	2.20
Western New England Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

Western New England Bancorp has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.65%. Given Western New England Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Western New England Bancorp is more favorable than Credit Agricole.

Profitability

This table compares Credit Agricole and Western New England Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Credit Agricole	24.36%	24.26%	0.88%
Western New England Bancorp	13.27%	7.25%	0.65%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Credit Agricole and Western New England Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Credit Agricole	$31.76 billion	1.83	$8.00 billion	$1.20	8.02
Western New England Bancorp	$131.13 million	2.10	$15.27 million	$0.89	15.37

Credit Agricole has higher revenue and earnings than Western New England Bancorp. Credit Agricole is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western New England Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Western New England Bancorp beats Credit Agricole on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Credit Agricole

Crédit Agricole S.A. provides retail, corporate, insurance, and investment banking products and services in France and internationally. It operates through French Retail Banking Regional Banks; French Retail Banking – LCL; International Retail Banking; Asset Gathering; Large Customers; and Specialised Financial Services segments. The company offers banking products and services, finance, savings, wealth management, payment, and cash flow management services; consumer finance products; savings/retirement, death and disability/creditor/group, and property and casualty insurance products; investment solutions; and banking and specialized financial services. It also provides investment banking, structured finance, international trade finance, commercial banking, capital market, and syndication services; financing solutions for property and equipment investment and renewal requirements; trade receivable financing and management solutions for corporates; asset servicing solutions for investment products, as well as various asset classes, such as execution, clearing, forex, security lending and borrowing, custody, depositary bank, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing solutions, and fund distribution support and issuer services; and online banking services. The company serves retail customers, corporates, banks and financial institutions, government agencies, and local authorities. Crédit Agricole S.A. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Montrouge, France. Crédit Agricole S.A. operates as a subsidiary of SAS Rue La Boetie.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts. It also offers residential real estate loans, including first mortgages, home equity loans, and home equity lines, and secured by one-to-four family residential properties; commercial and industrial loans, such as letters of credit, revolving lines of credit, working capital, equipment financing, and term loans; commercial mortgage loans; construction and land development loans; home equity loans comprising home equity revolving loans and lines of credit; and consumer loans, including automobile, spa and pool, collateral, and personal lines of credit. In addition, the company provides automated teller machine (ATM), telephone and online banking, remote deposit capture, cash management, overdraft and safe deposit facility, and night deposit services. The company was formerly known as Westfield Financial, Inc. and changed its name to Western New England Bancorp, Inc. in October 2016. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts.