Reviewing Commerzbank (OTCMKTS:CRZBY) & National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Commerzbank and National Bank of Canada”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commerzbank	$26.54 billion	1.81	$2.97 billion	$2.53	17.33
National Bank of Canada	$21.96 billion	2.74	$2.87 billion	$8.18	19.10

Commerzbank has higher revenue and earnings than National Bank of Canada. Commerzbank 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.

Volatility and Risk

Commerzbank has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Bank of Canada has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional 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 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 Commerzbank and National Bank of Canada’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commerzbank	11.55%	7.69%	0.46%
National Bank of Canada	14.49%	16.10%	0.85%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Commerzbank and National Bank of Canada, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerzbank	0	4	5	1	2.70
National Bank of Canada	0	6	2	0	2.25

Dividends

Commerzbank pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. National Bank of Canada pays an annual dividend of $3.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Commerzbank pays out 35.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Bank of Canada pays out 44.4% 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.

Summary

National Bank of Canada beats Commerzbank on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commerzbank

Commerzbank AG provides banking and capital market products and services to private and small business customers, corporate, financial service providers, and institutional clients in Germany, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Private and Small-Business Customers, and Corporate Clients. The company offers saving, checking, business, and current accounts; term deposits; pension; credit and debit cards; payment solutions; overdraft services; various loans; and insurance products. It also provides trade securities; treasury management; corporate financing; real estate financing; financing advisory; merger and acquisition; foreign trade; trade financing; asset and risk management; and online banking, as well as wealth management services. Commerzbank AG was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

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.