Comparing Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) and Nordea Bank (OTCMKTS:NRDBY)

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

Profitability

This table compares Nordea Bank and Bank of Marin Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordea Bank	22.74%	15.06%	0.69%
Bank of Marin Bancorp	-6.48%	9.38%	0.95%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nordea Bank and Bank of Marin Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nordea Bank	$23.46 billion	2.75	$5.48 billion	$1.59	11.93
Bank of Marin Bancorp	$163.98 million	2.82	-$35.67 million	($0.76)	-37.61

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

Dividends

Nordea Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Bank of Marin Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Nordea Bank pays out 22.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of Marin Bancorp pays out -131.6% 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. Bank of Marin Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Nordea Bank and Bank of Marin Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nordea Bank	1	3	3	0	2.29
Bank of Marin Bancorp	0	5	2	0	2.29

Bank of Marin Bancorp has a consensus target price of $32.20, indicating a potential upside of 12.67%. Given Bank of Marin Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of Marin Bancorp is more favorable than Nordea Bank.

Risk and Volatility

Nordea Bank has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of Marin Bancorp has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Nordea Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of Bank of Marin Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Bank of Marin Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Bank of Marin Bancorp beats Nordea Bank on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nordea Bank

Nordea Bank Abp is a financial services group headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. It provides banking and related services to individuals, businesses and institutions, with a focus on the Nordic region. Its offerings include everyday and savings accounts, mortgages, consumer loans, payment services, and investment and wealth-management services for personal customers. For businesses and institutions, Nordea provides lending, cash management, trade finance, capital-markets services and other corporate banking solutions.

About Bank of Marin Bancorp

Bank of Marin Bancorp is the holding company for Bank of Marin, a community bank headquartered in Novato, California. The bank provides financial services to individuals, families, professionals, nonprofit organizations and businesses, with a focus on relationship-based commercial banking. Its products and services include business and personal checking and savings accounts, commercial and residential real estate loans, construction and commercial lending, small-business loans, consumer credit, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and wealth management and trust services.