Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) and Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) Head to Head Contrast

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) and Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mizuho Financial Group has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Huntington Bancshares and Mizuho Financial Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Huntington Bancshares	$10.84 billion	1.74	$1.95 billion	$1.11	11.69
Mizuho Financial Group	$2,971.07 billion	0.02	$4.69 billion	$0.30	13.15

Mizuho Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Huntington Bancshares. Huntington Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mizuho Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Huntington Bancshares and Mizuho Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Huntington Bancshares	15.86%	11.99%	1.05%
Mizuho Financial Group	6.45%	5.24%	0.19%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Huntington Bancshares and Mizuho Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Huntington Bancshares	1	4	10	1	2.69
Mizuho Financial Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $15.13, suggesting a potential upside of 16.59%. Given Huntington Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Huntington Bancshares is more favorable than Mizuho Financial Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.3% of Mizuho Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Huntington Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Mizuho Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Huntington Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Mizuho Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Huntington Bancshares pays out 55.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mizuho Financial Group pays out 36.7% 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.

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats Mizuho Financial Group on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services. It also provides 24-hour grace, asterisk-free checking, money scout, $50 safety zone, standby cash, early pay, instant access, savings goal getter, and Huntington heads up; digitally powered consumer and business financial solutions to consumer lending, regional banking, branch banking, and wealth management customers; direct and indirect consumer loans, as well as dealer finance loans and deposits; and private banking, wealth management and legacy planning through investment and portfolio management, fiduciary administration and trust, institutional custody, and full-service retail brokerage investment services. The company offers equipment financing, asset-based lending, distribution finance, structured lending, and municipal financing solutions, as well as Huntington ChoicePay. In addition, it offers lending, liquidity, treasury management and other payment services, and capital markets; government and non-profits, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, franchises, financial sponsors, and global services; and corporate risk management, institutional sales and trading, debt and equity issuance, and additional advisory services. The company offers its products through a network of channels, including branches and ATMs, online and mobile banking, and through customer call centers to customers in middle market banking, corporate, specialty, and government banking, asset finance, commercial real estate banking, and capital markets. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

About Mizuho Financial Group

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in banking, trust, securities, and other businesses related to financial services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia/Oceania, and internationally. It operates through Retail & Business Banking Company, Corporate & Institutional Company, Global Corporate Company, Global Markets Company, Asset Management Company, and Others segments. The company provides deposit products; syndicated, housing, and card loans; business matching services; and advisory services related to overseas expansions, and mergers and acquisitions-related services. It also offers consulting services, including asset management and asset succession; payroll services; and sells lottery tickets issued by prefectures and ordinance-designated cities. In addition, it offers fund management, underwriting of equity and bonds, risk hedging products, etc. for corporate customers; solutions based on capital management, business strategy, and financial strategy; real estate services; advisory services and solutions, such as advice on proposals on various investment products to financial institutions; and financial services that include funding support and public bonds underwriting. Further, the company offers corporate finance and transaction banking srvices; sales and trading services; investment products; pension funds; and ALM and investment services, including stable capital raising and balance sheet management, as well as management of fixed income, equity, and other securities portfolios. Additionally, the company provides online banking, cash management solutions, currency transaction, trade finance, custody, yen correspondence settlement, and research and consulting services; trust, securitization and structured finance, and stock transfers; and private banking and information technology-related services. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.