Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) versus Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Financial Contrast

Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) and Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

9.2% of Banco Santander shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.5% of Banco Santander shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Agri Bank China has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Santander has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Agri Bank China and Banco Santander’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agri Bank China	21.14%	9.25%	0.63%
Banco Santander	18.85%	12.14%	0.73%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Agri Bank China and Banco Santander, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agri Bank China	0	0	0	0	0.00
Banco Santander	1	3	5	1	2.60

Dividends

Agri Bank China pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Banco Santander pays an annual dividend of $0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Agri Bank China pays out 22.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banco Santander pays out 18.8% 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Agri Bank China and Banco Santander”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agri Bank China	$188.76 billion	1.36	$39.24 billion	$2.71	6.75
Banco Santander	$66.36 billion	2.74	$15.95 billion	$1.01	12.09

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

Summary

Banco Santander beats Agri Bank China on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agri Bank China

Agricultural Bank of China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. It offers demand, personal call, foreign currency call, time or demand optional, foreign exchange call, foreign exchange time, savings, agreed term, and negotiated deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and loans, including housing, consumer, business, fixed asset, working capital, real estate, and entrusted syndicated loans, as well as trade finances, guarantees and commitments, and loans with custody of export rebates accounts. The company provides credit card, debit card, payment and settlement, private banking, cash management, investment banking, custody, financial market, and financial institution services, as well as trading and wealth management services; and personal fund collection and automatic transfer services. In addition, it offers agro-related personal and corporate banking products and services; telephone, mobile, self-service, television, and SMS banking services; financial leasing services; fund management services; asset custodian services; and insurance and reinsurance related products and services. The company operates domestic branches, including specialized institutions, training institutes, tier-1 branches, tier-2 branches, tier-1 sub-branches, foundation-level branch outlets and other establishments; overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, New York, Dubai International Financial Centre, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, Luxemburg, Dubai, London, Macao, and Hanoi; and overseas representative offices in Vancouver, Taipei, Sao Paulo, and Dushanbe. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, S.A. provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and project finance, debt capital markets, global transaction banking, and corporate finance services. The company also provides asset management and private banking services; and insurance products. In addition, it offers corporate and investment banking services; and digital payment solutions. Further, it offers online banking and financial services to retail, business, institutional, corporate, private banking and university customers and clients. The company was formerly known as Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and changed its name to Banco Santander, S.A. in February 2007. Banco Santander, S.A. was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.