Financial Review: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTCMKTS:CMWAY) vs. Bank of East Asia (OTCMKTS:BKEAY)

Bank of East Asia (OTCMKTS:BKEAY) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTCMKTS:CMWAY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

Bank of East Asia pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia pays an annual dividend of $3.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Bank of East Asia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of East Asia	0	1	0	0	2.00
Commonwealth Bank of Australia	1	1	0	0	1.50

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has a consensus target price of $130.18, suggesting a potential upside of 7.96%. Given Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Commonwealth Bank of Australia is more favorable than Bank of East Asia.

Profitability

This table compares Bank of East Asia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of East Asia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Commonwealth Bank of Australia	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Risk & Volatility

Bank of East Asia has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bank of East Asia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of East Asia	$4.96 billion	0.85	$449.18 million	N/A	N/A
Commonwealth Bank of Australia	$61.51 billion	3.28	$6.55 billion	N/A	N/A

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of East Asia.

Summary

Commonwealth Bank of Australia beats Bank of East Asia on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank of East Asia

The Bank of East Asia, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking and related financial services. Its personal banking services include corporate, individual, savings, current, time deposit, and supreme accounts; and time deposits, foreign currency deposits, MAS services, and auto-payroll products, as well as safe deposit boxes and remittance services. The company also provides corporate banking services, such as SME loans and financing guarantee schemes; corporate and commercial financing products, including syndicated and construction loans, acquisition and structured financing, working capital financing, share financing and IPO-related loans, and commercial mortgages; trade finance services and expert trade solutions; factoring services; import and export trade finance; guarantee services; eTradeConnect that allows buyers and sellers to connect, transact, share information, and submit applications for financing through a single platform; cash management services; corporate wealth management products; foreign exchange and treasury products; and marine cargo, property, trade credit, employee compensation, life, savings, and endowment insurance plans. In addition, it offers private banking services comprising investment advisory services; investment solutions, such as unit trusts, linked deposits, currency trading and management, global equities and bonds investments, structured products, and options and derivatives; portfolio management services; securities and futures broking services; cyber banking, credit cards, and ATM; and various international services. The company operates outlets in Hong Kong, rest of Greater China, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Bank of East Asia, Limited was incorporated in 1918 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong.

About Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Commonwealth Bank of Australia provides financial services in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. It operates through Retail Banking Services, Business Banking, Institutional Banking and Markets, and New Zealand segments. The company offers transaction, savings, and foreign currency accounts; term deposits; personal and business loans; overdrafts; equipment finance; credit cards; international payment and trade; and private banking services, as well as home and car loans. It also provides institutional banking services; funds management, superannuation, and share broking products and services; home, car, health, life, income protection, and travel insurance products, as well as retail, premium, business, offshore services. In addition, the company offers advisory services for high-net-worth individuals; equities trading and margin lending services; debt capital, transaction banking, working capital, and risk management services; and international and foreign exchange services. Commonwealth Bank of Australia was founded in 1911 and is based in Sydney, Australia.