ING Group (NYSE:ING) & China CITIC Bank (OTCMKTS:CHCJY) Critical Review

ING Group (NYSE:ING) and China CITIC Bank (OTCMKTS:CHCJY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

ING Group has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China CITIC Bank has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for ING Group and China CITIC Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ING Group	0	1	5	1	3.00
China CITIC Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ING Group and China CITIC Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ING Group	$24.47 billion	3.26	$5.77 billion	$2.17	11.68
China CITIC Bank	$47.42 billion	N/A	$9.54 billion	$3.27	5.22

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

Dividends

ING Group pays an annual dividend of $0.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. China CITIC Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. ING Group pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China CITIC Bank pays out 22.3% 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. China CITIC Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

4.5% of ING Group shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares ING Group and China CITIC Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ING Group	27.28%	11.62%	0.58%
China CITIC Bank	19.59%	8.44%	0.72%

Summary

ING Group beats China CITIC Bank on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ING Group

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts. It also offers business lending products; SME loans; consumer lending products, such as residential mortgage loans and other consumer lending loans; and mortgages. In addition, the company provides working capital solutions; debt and equity market solutions; various loans; payments; and cash management, trade and corporate finance, and treasury services, as well as savings, investment, insurance, and digital banking services. It serves individual customers, corporate clients, and financial institutions. ING Groep N.V. was founded in 1762 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

About China CITIC Bank

China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited provides various banking products and services in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in segments, such as Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, and Financial Market business. It accepts deposits; offers corporate and personal loans; and provides securities agency, remittance and settlement, and guarantee services, as well as investment banking and international services. The company also engages in the capital markets operations and inter-bank operations, including inter-bank money market transactions, repurchase transactions, investments, and trading in debt instruments; and derivatives and forex trading. In addition, it offers asset management, finance leasing, wealth management, ageing finance, private banking, credit card, payroll, and other non-banking financial services. The company serves corporations, government agencies, and non-financial institutions; and individual customers and micro and small enterprises. The company operates tier-one branches, tier-two branches, and sub-branches; self-service banks; and self-service terminals, as well as smart teller machines. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited operates as a subsidiary of CITIC Financial Holdings Co., Ltd.