Head-To-Head Review: Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) vs. UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY)

Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) and UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.4% of Erste Group Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of UniCredit shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Erste Group Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. UniCredit pays an annual dividend of $1.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Erste Group Bank pays out 5.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Erste Group Bank and UniCredit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Erste Group Bank	19.27%	10.96%	1.01%
UniCredit	34.34%	20.22%	1.60%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Erste Group Bank and UniCredit, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Erste Group Bank	0	3	3	1	2.71
UniCredit	0	2	3	2	3.00

Volatility and Risk

Erste Group Bank has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniCredit has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Erste Group Bank and UniCredit”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Erste Group Bank	$23.77 billion	1.95	$3.97 billion	$4.98	11.98
UniCredit	$41.32 billion	3.13	$15.35 billion	N/A	N/A

UniCredit has higher revenue and earnings than Erste Group Bank.

Summary

UniCredit beats Erste Group Bank on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank AG provides a range of banking and other financial services to retail, corporate, and public sector customers. The company operates through Retail, Corporates, Group Markets, Asset/Liability Management & Local Corporate Center, Savings Banks, and Group Corporate Center segments. It provides mortgage and consumer loans, investment products, current accounts, savings products, and credit cards, as well as cross selling products, such as leasing, insurance, and building society products. The company also offers factoring and accounts receivable purchasing; investment, acquisition and leveraged, project, and commercial real estate finance; interest rate and currency hedging, letters of credit, documentary collections, and guarantees; account management, payments, digital-banking, cash logistics, and payment factory and cash pooling services; documentary collection, equity interests and investments, revolving export credits lines, letters of credit, customer financing, and export guarantee; and loan syndication, and debt and equity capital market services. In addition, it provides cash management, trade finance, customer referral, markets execution, debt capital markets, and custody and brokerage services. Further, the company offers corporate finance; portfolio management; trading and market; trade execution, market making, and short-term liquidity management; and asset/liability management services, as well as working capital and bridge loans. It operates in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and internationally. The company was founded in 1819 and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.

About UniCredit

UniCredit S.p.A. provides commercial banking services in Italy, Germany, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. It offers retail, private, and wealth management solutions; and institutional investor solutions. The company also provides corporate finance advisory, rating advisory, financial sponsor, patient capital, capital structure advisory, and finance solutions, as well as securities services. In addition, it offers transactional and risk management, and strategic advisory and funding services; group trade and correspondent banking services; and payments and cash management solutions. The company serves SME, corporate, multinational corporate, financial institution, and public sector clients, as well as retail, private banking, wealth management, and family office clients. The company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.