Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) versus Merriman (OTCMKTS:MERR) Financial Contrast

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Merriman (OTCMKTS:MERR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Bank of America and Merriman, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of America	0	5	16	0	2.76
Merriman	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bank of America currently has a consensus price target of $50.92, suggesting a potential downside of 1.78%. Given Merriman’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Merriman is more favorable than Bank of America.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bank of America and Merriman”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of America	$192.43 billion	2.00	$27.13 billion	$3.42	15.16
Merriman	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Bank of America has higher revenue and earnings than Merriman.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.7% of Bank of America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Bank of America shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 63.0% of Merriman shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Bank of America and Merriman’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of America	14.81%	10.25%	0.84%
Merriman	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Bank of America beats Merriman on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets. The Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, non-interest and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; credit and debit cards; residential mortgages, and home equity loans; and direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans. The GWIM segment provides investment management, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products and services; wealth management solutions; and customized solutions, including specialty asset management services. The Global Banking segment offers lending products and services, including commercial loans, leases, commitment facilities, trade finance, and commercial real estate and asset-based lending; treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, short-term investing options, and merchant services; working capital management solutions; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, and merger-related and other advisory services; and fixed-income and equity research, and certain market-based services. The Global Markets segment provides market-making, financing, securities clearing, settlement, and custody services; securities and derivative products; and risk management products using interest rate, equity, credit, currency and commodity derivatives, foreign exchange, fixed-income, and mortgage-related products. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1784 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Merriman

Merriman Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Merriman Capital, Inc., provides capital market advisory and research, corporate, and investment banking services primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's investment banking services include corporate financing services, such as initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and private placements services; and strategic advisory services comprise transaction-specific advice regarding mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and privatizations, as well as general strategic advice. It also offers institutional brokerage services, including institutional sales trading and equity execution, and options execution services to institutional clients. In addition, the company executes securities transactions for money managers, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, and pension and profit-sharing plans; and provides integrated research and trading solutions, as well as capital markets advisory services. It primarily serves institutional investors and corporate clients. The company was formerly known as Merriman Curhan Ford Group, Inc. and changed its name to Merriman Holdings, Inc. in August 2010. Merriman Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.