Head to Head Analysis: Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY) & KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ and KBC Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	2	3	0	0	1.60
KBC Group	1	4	1	0	2.00

Risk & Volatility

Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KBC Group has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	$21.75 billion	1.34	$2.42 billion	$0.71	10.35
KBC Group	$26.56 billion	2.18	$4.04 billion	$5.04	13.77

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

Dividends

Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. KBC Group pays an annual dividend of $3.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays out 81.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. KBC Group pays out 63.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	17.61%	14.41%	0.74%
KBC Group	14.98%	13.15%	0.92%

Summary

KBC Group beats Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About KBC Group

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services. It also provides digital and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as KBC Bank and Insurance Holding Company NV and changed its name to KBC Group NV in March 2005. KBC Group NV was incorporated in 1935 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.