DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY) versus National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) Critical Contrast

National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) and DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares National Bank of Canada and DNB Bank ASA”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Bank of Canada	$21.96 billion	2.54	$2.87 billion	$8.18	17.68
DNB Bank ASA	$19.14 billion	2.48	$4.20 billion	$2.77	11.04

DNB Bank ASA has lower revenue, but higher earnings than National Bank of Canada. DNB Bank ASA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Bank of Canada, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

National Bank of Canada has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DNB Bank ASA has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

National Bank of Canada pays an annual dividend of $3.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. DNB Bank ASA pays an annual dividend of $1.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. National Bank of Canada pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. DNB Bank ASA pays out 51.3% 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 current ratings and recommmendations for National Bank of Canada and DNB Bank ASA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Bank of Canada	0	6	2	0	2.25
DNB Bank ASA	1	4	2	0	2.14

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.1% of National Bank of Canada shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of National Bank of Canada shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares National Bank of Canada and DNB Bank ASA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Bank of Canada	14.49%	16.10%	0.85%
DNB Bank ASA	21.06%	14.23%	1.09%

Summary

National Bank of Canada beats DNB Bank ASA on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Bank of Canada

National Bank of Canada provides financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional clients, and governments in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. The Personal and Commercial segment offers personal banking services, including transaction solutions, mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, consumer loans, payment solutions, and savings and investment solutions; various insurance products; and commercial banking services, such as credit, and deposit, investment solutions, international trade, foreign exchange transactions, payroll, cash management, insurance, electronic transactions, and complimentary services. The Wealth Management segment provides full-service brokerage, private banking, direct brokerage, investment solutions, administrative and trade execution, transaction products, and trust and estate services. The Financial Markets segment offers corporate banking, advisory, and capital markets services; and project financing, debt, and equity underwriting; advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, and financing. The U.S. Specialty Finance and International segment provides specialty finance products; and personal and commercial banking in Cambodia. National Bank of Canada was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

About DNB Bank ASA

DNB Bank ASA provides financial services for individual and business customers in Norway and internationally. The company offers savings, current, and pension accounts; fixed rate and security deposits; home and cabin mortgages, car and consumer loans, business loans, and refinancing; car, house, home contents, travel, personal, and non-life insurance product; payment services; and online and mobile banking services, as well as cards. It also provides overdraft facilities; leasing services; factoring, supply chain, and receivable purchase financing services; bank guarantee, secure trading, documentary collection, and letter of credit services; investment banking services, such as mergers and acquisition, equity and debt capital market, shares and securities, mutual funds and trading, and bonds and commodities; and private financing, as well as equity trading, foreign exchange, interest rates, and risk advisory services. In addition, the company offers treasury management, working capital, trade finance, auto lease and equipment financing, and corporate finance services, as well as act as an estate agents. DNB Bank ASA was founded in 1822 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.