Contrasting Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) and BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) and BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Dividends

Agri Bank China pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. BankUnited pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Agri Bank China pays out 25.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BankUnited pays out 36.2% 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. BankUnited has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Agri Bank China is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agri Bank China	21.45%	9.35%	0.61%
BankUnited	14.76%	9.13%	0.79%

Risk & Volatility

Agri Bank China has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its stock price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BankUnited has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Agri Bank China and BankUnited, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agri Bank China	0	2	0	0	2.00
BankUnited	3	4	6	1	2.36

BankUnited has a consensus target price of $51.64, indicating a potential upside of 12.42%. Given BankUnited’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BankUnited is more favorable than Agri Bank China.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.7% of BankUnited shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of BankUnited shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Agri Bank China and BankUnited”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agri Bank China	$188.76 billion	1.52	$40.48 billion	$2.78	7.37
BankUnited	$1.12 billion	2.92	$268.35 million	$3.65	12.58

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

Summary

BankUnited beats Agri Bank China on 12 of the 18 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 BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services. Its loans portfolio includes commercial loans, including equipment loans, secured and unsecured lines of credit, formula-based lines of credit, owner-occupied commercial real estate term loans and lines of credit, mortgage warehouse lines, subscription finance facilities, letters of credit, commercial credit cards, small business administration and U.S. department of agriculture product offerings, export-import bank financing products, trade finance, and business acquisition finance credit facilities; commercial real estate loans; residential mortgages; and other consumer loans. The company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services. It operates through a network of banking centers located in Florida counties and the New York metropolitan area, as well as Dallas, Texas. The company was formerly known as BU Financial Corporation. BankUnited, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida.