Financial Review: Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) & SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:SBRKF)

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:SBRKF) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lloyds Banking Group and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lloyds Banking Group	$18.81 billion	2.48	$6.79 billion	$0.38	7.84
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA	N/A	N/A	N/A	$8.66	0.00

Lloyds Banking Group has higher revenue and earnings than SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA. SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lloyds Banking Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

2.2% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.1% of SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lloyds Banking Group and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lloyds Banking Group	0	4	4	0	2.50
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA	0	0	0	0	N/A

Lloyds Banking Group presently has a consensus target price of $49.38, suggesting a potential upside of 1,556.88%. Given Lloyds Banking Group’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Lloyds Banking Group is more favorable than SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA.

Profitability

This table compares Lloyds Banking Group and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lloyds Banking Group	12.40%	10.34%	0.54%
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Lloyds Banking Group beats SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers. The Commercial Banking segment provides lending, transactional banking, working capital management, risk management, and debt financing services to small and medium-sized entities, corporates, and institutions. The Insurance, Pensions, and Investments segment offers insurance, investment, and pension management products and services. It also provides digital banking services. The company offers its products and services under the Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, MBNA, Schroders Personal Wealth, Black Horse, Lex Autolease, Birmingham Midshires, LDC, AMC, Embark Group, Citra, IWeb, Cavendish Online, and Tusker brand names. Lloyds Banking Group plc was founded in 1695 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA

SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services for personal and corporate customers primarily in Rogaland, Agder, Vestland, Oslo, and Viken. The company operates through Retail Customers, SME & Agriculture, and Large Corporates segments. It offers savings, loans, insurance, and pension products. The company also provides account and payment, international cash management, foreign exchange, administrative securities, accounting, estate agency, payroll, HR, securities trading, and investment services; green loans; credit cards; consulting; home financing; commercial properties for leasing; and banking services. In addition, it facilitates and advises debt and equity funding; and sells real estate properties comprising holiday homes, new builds, and used homes. Further, the company is involved in the customer trading of interest rate instruments; and purchasing of home mortgages. It serves retail and corporate, SME, small business, and agricultural customers, as well as the public sector. The company was founded in 1839 and is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway.