Contrasting Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) and Danske Bank A/S (OTCMKTS:DNKEY)

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) and Danske Bank A/S (OTCMKTS:DNKEY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Meridian and Danske Bank A/S, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meridian	0	1	1	0	2.50
Danske Bank A/S	1	1	0	1	2.33

Meridian currently has a consensus target price of $16.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.85%. Given Meridian’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Meridian is more favorable than Danske Bank A/S.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.6% of Meridian shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.0% of Meridian shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Meridian pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Danske Bank A/S pays an annual dividend of $0.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Meridian pays out 34.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Danske Bank A/S pays out 39.1% 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.

Risk and Volatility

Meridian has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Danske Bank A/S has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Meridian and Danske Bank A/S’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meridian	8.28%	10.01%	0.70%
Danske Bank A/S	42.04%	13.27%	0.62%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Meridian and Danske Bank A/S”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meridian	$197.37 million	0.95	$16.35 million	$1.45	11.48
Danske Bank A/S	$7.61 billion	3.27	$3.09 billion	$1.97	7.44

Danske Bank A/S has higher revenue and earnings than Meridian. Danske Bank A/S is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Meridian, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Danske Bank A/S beats Meridian on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits. It also provides commercial and industrial loans comprising business lines of credit, term loans, small business lending, lease financing, shared national credits, and other financing; commercial real estate, and land development and construction loans for residential and commercial projects; and consumer and home equity lending, private banking, merchant, and title and land settlement services. In addition, the company operates and originates mortgage loans for 1-4 family dwellings; and offers real estate holding, investment advisory, and equipment leasing services, as well as financial planning and wealth management services. Meridian Corporation was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

About Danske Bank A/S

Danske Bank A/S provides various banking products and services to corporate, institutional, and international clients. The company offers insurance and pension products, mortgage finance and real-estate brokerage services, asset management and trading services in fixed income products, foreign exchange services, and equities. It also provides advisory services to personal and private banking customers; and business advisory services, including acquisition, change of ownership, strategic development, or international expansion. In addition, the company offers financing, risk management, investment, and financial advisory services for large corporates and institutions; healthcare solutions; and online and mobile banking services. It has operations in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.