Comparing Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV (OTCMKTS:GBOOY) and Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS)

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) and Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV (OTCMKTS:GBOOY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Alerus Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV pays an annual dividend of $4.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.5%. Alerus Financial pays out 85.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV pays out 77.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alerus Financial has raised its dividend for 25 consecutive years. Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Alerus Financial has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Alerus Financial and Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alerus Financial	0	4	2	1	2.57
Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV	0	1	0	0	2.00

Alerus Financial presently has a consensus price target of $30.50, indicating a potential downside of 5.13%. Given Alerus Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Alerus Financial is more favorable than Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.2% of Alerus Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Alerus Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alerus Financial and Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alerus Financial	$399.92 million	2.02	$17.44 million	$1.03	31.21
Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV	$21.89 billion	1.33	$3.07 billion	$5.67	9.12

Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV has higher revenue and earnings than Alerus Financial. Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alerus Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Alerus Financial and Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alerus Financial	6.74%	14.39%	1.51%
Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV	14.23%	22.08%	2.24%

About Alerus Financial

Alerus Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Alerus Financial, National Association that engages in the provision of various financial services to businesses and consumers. The company operates in four segments: Banking, Mortgage, Retirement and Benefit Services, and Wealth Management. It offers various deposit products, including demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market accounts, time and savings deposits, checking accounts, and certificates of deposit; and treasury management products, including electronic receivables management, remote deposit capture, cash vault services, merchant services, and other cash management services. The company also provides commercial loans, business term loans, lines of credit, and commercial real estate loans, as well as construction and land development loans; consumer lending products, including residential first mortgage loans; installment loans and lines of credit; and second mortgage loans. In addition, it offers retirement plan administration and investment advisory services, employee stock ownership plan, fiduciary services, payroll, health savings accounts, and other benefit services, as well as individual retirement accounts; and financial planning, investment management, personal and corporate trust, estate administration, and custody services. Further, the company provides debit and credit cards, online banking, mobile banking/wallet, payment, private banking, payroll accounts, flex spending accounts, administration, and government health insurance program services. It offers banking services in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Arizona; and retirement and benefit plans through offices located in Michigan, Minnesota, and Colorado. The company was formerly known as First National Bank North Dakota and changed its name to Alerus Financial Corporation in 2000. Alerus Financial Corporation was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

About Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB de CV

Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. de C.V., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of banking and financial products and services in Mexico and internationally. The company accepts checking, current, retirement, and payroll accounts; and provides loans, including mortgage, car, payroll, personal, structured, syndicated, SME loans, and credit cards, as well as letter of credit financing, acquisition funding, and import and export foreign trade financing. It is also involved in investment planning, foreign currency purchase/sale, financial advice, brokerage, asset management, investment banking, letters of credit, bank guarantees, and leasing and factoring activities. In addition, the company sells mutual funds and debt and capital instruments; issues debit cards; and provides insurance services for car, home, life, medical, employee, and SMEs, as well as cash management services for collection, trustees, payroll, and lines of credit. Further, it provides online banking, POS, payment, reconciliation, documentary collection, import bills of exchange discount, International wire transfer, remittances, storage, inventory management, logistics, marketing, and payroll services. The company was founded in 1899 and is based in Mexico City, Mexico.