Analyzing Barclays (BCS) and The Competition

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) is one of 920 public companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Barclays to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

3.4% of Barclays shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Barclays and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barclays	22.74%	9.02%	0.42%
Barclays Competitors	15.72%	9.53%	0.93%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Barclays and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barclays	0	6	4	0	2.40
Barclays Competitors	7462	30180	27739	1456	2.35

As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 15.73%. Given Barclays’ peers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Barclays has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Barclays and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barclays	$30.94 billion	$9.46 billion	8.13
Barclays Competitors	$222.02 billion	$2.41 billion	16.81

Barclays’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Barclays. Barclays is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Barclays has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barclays’ peers have a beta of 0.61, meaning that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Barclays pays an annual dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Barclays pays out 21.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.4% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Barclays peers beat Barclays on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.