Financial Survey: UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCFF) versus Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares UniCredit and Banco Santander”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UniCredit	$41.32 billion	3.12	$12.35 billion	N/A	N/A
Banco Santander	$66.36 billion	2.82	$15.95 billion	$1.01	12.44

Banco Santander has higher revenue and earnings than UniCredit.

Insider and Institutional 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, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UniCredit	27.51%	16.29%	1.30%
Banco Santander	18.85%	12.14%	0.73%

Risk and Volatility

UniCredit has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Santander has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for UniCredit and Banco Santander, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UniCredit	0	0	0	0	0.00
Banco Santander	1	3	5	1	2.60

Summary

Banco Santander beats UniCredit on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UniCredit

UniCredit S.p.A. provides commercial banking services in Italy, Germany, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. It offers retail, private, and wealth management solutions; and institutional investor solutions. The company also provides corporate finance advisory, rating advisory, financial sponsor, patient capital, capital structure advisory, and finance solutions, as well as securities services. In addition, it offers transactional and risk management, and strategic advisory and funding services; group trade and correspondent banking services; and payments and cash management solutions. The company serves SME, corporate, multinational corporate, financial institution, and public sector clients, as well as retail, private banking, wealth management, and family office clients. The company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

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.