Critical Analysis: Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY)

Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (OTCMKTS:SVNLY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Bank of Marin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. Bank of Marin Bancorp pays out -109.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.3% of Bank of Marin Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Bank of Marin Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bank of Marin Bancorp and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of Marin Bancorp	$163.98 million	2.74	-$35.67 million	($0.91)	-30.54
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	$21.75 billion	1.41	$2.42 billion	$0.71	10.87

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Bank of Marin Bancorp and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Marin Bancorp	0	5	2	0	2.29
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	4	1	0	0	1.20

Bank of Marin Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.35%. Given Bank of Marin Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bank of Marin Bancorp is more favorable than Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ.

Profitability

This table compares Bank of Marin Bancorp and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Marin Bancorp	-7.98%	8.51%	0.89%
Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ	17.75%	14.30%	0.72%

Volatility and Risk

Bank of Marin Bancorp has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Bank of Marin Bancorp beats Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank of Marin Bancorp

Bank of Marin Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of Marin that provides a range of financial services primarily to small to medium-sized businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and commercial real estate investors in the United States. The company offers personal and business checking and savings accounts; and individual retirement, health savings, and demand deposit marketplace accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit, certificate of deposit account registry, and insured cash sweep services. It also provides commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and consumer loans, as well as construction financing and home equity lines of credit. In addition, the company offers merchant and payroll services; commercial equipment leasing program; payment solutions; treasury management services; credit cards; and mobile deposit, remote deposit capture, automated clearing house, wire transfer, and image lockbox services. Further, it provides wealth management and trust services comprising customized investment portfolio management, financial planning, trust administration, estate settlement, and custody services, as well as 401(k) plan services; and automated teller machines, and telephone and digital banking services. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Novato, California.

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.