Reviewing German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) and Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH)

Banco De Chile (NYSE:BCH) and German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Banco De Chile and German American Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco De Chile	1	4	0	0	1.80
German American Bancorp	0	2	2	1	2.80

Banco De Chile presently has a consensus target price of $39.67, indicating a potential upside of 1.81%. German American Bancorp has a consensus target price of $53.33, indicating a potential upside of 9.59%. Given German American Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe German American Bancorp is more favorable than Banco De Chile.

Profitability

This table compares Banco De Chile and German American Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco De Chile	31.01%	21.10%	2.26%
German American Bancorp	28.25%	12.14%	1.69%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.2% of Banco De Chile shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.9% of German American Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Banco De Chile shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of German American Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Banco De Chile and German American Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco De Chile	$3.89 billion	5.05	$1.30 billion	$2.64	14.76
German American Bancorp	$487.40 million	3.75	$112.64 million	$3.79	12.84

Banco De Chile has higher revenue and earnings than German American Bancorp. German American Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Banco De Chile, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Banco De Chile has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, German American Bancorp has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Banco De Chile pays an annual dividend of $1.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. German American Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Banco De Chile pays out 62.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. German American Bancorp pays out 32.7% 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. German American Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

About Banco De Chile

Banco de Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking services to customers in Chile. The company offers checking and debit accounts, debit and credit cards, and lines of credit; mortgage, consume, commercial, general purpose mortgage loans, and finance leases; and factoring services, mutual fund management, stock brokerage, foreign trade, payments and collections, insurance brokerage, including life and general insurance, as well as time deposits, savings instruments, and foreign currency services through branches under the Banco de Chile and Banco Edwards brands. It also provides working capital loans, corporate credit cards, foreign currency brokerage, leasing and long-term syndicated loans, advisory services for mergers acquisitions and debt restructuring; cash management services, including payment and collection services; and international fund transfer networks, current account and deposit products, fund administration, and treasury management. In addition, the company offers insurance brokerage, derivative contracts, transactional banking, financial risks coverage, representation and asset custody, investment banking and management, capital markets products, foreign exchange transactions; and advisory services for initial public offerings, capital increases, sales and purchases of blocks of shares, private capital placements, public share tenders, company valuations, bond issuances, and syndicated loans services. Further, it provides foreign exchange brokerage, forward contracts, interest rate swaps, repurchase agreements, and other investment products based on bonds, mortgage bonds and deposits. The company serves individuals, small and medium-sized companies, corporate clients, and large companies, real estate and construction, and high net worth family office customers. Banco de Chile was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.

About German American Bancorp

German American Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market. The Wealth Management segment provides trust, investment advisory, brokerage, and retirement planning services. The Insurance Operations segment offers a range of personal and corporate property and casualty insurance products. It also offers checking, saving, and individual retirement accounts; certificates of deposit; wire transfer; credit cards; home equity, mortgages, and small business; treasury management; and online and mobile banking, bill pay, digital wallet, mobile check deposit, credit score and report, money management, and estatements, as well as wealth advisory. German American Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is based in Jasper, Indiana.