Critical Contrast: UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) versus China CITIC Bank (OTCMKTS:CHCJY)

China CITIC Bank (OTCMKTS:CHCJY) and UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

China CITIC Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. UniCredit pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. China CITIC Bank pays out 24.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares China CITIC Bank and UniCredit”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
China CITIC Bank	$47.42 billion	1.12	$9.54 billion	$3.27	6.63
UniCredit	$41.32 billion	2.65	$12.35 billion	N/A	N/A

UniCredit has lower revenue, but higher earnings than China CITIC Bank.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.3% of UniCredit shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for China CITIC Bank and UniCredit, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
China CITIC Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
UniCredit	0	1	3	2	3.17

Profitability

This table compares China CITIC Bank and UniCredit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
China CITIC Bank	20.20%	8.48%	0.72%
UniCredit	32.88%	26.06%	2.08%

Volatility & Risk

China CITIC Bank has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniCredit has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

UniCredit beats China CITIC Bank on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China CITIC Bank

China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited provides various banking products and services in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in segments, such as Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, and Financial Market business. It accepts deposits; offers corporate and personal loans; and provides securities agency, remittance and settlement, and guarantee services, as well as investment banking and international services. The company also engages in the capital markets operations and inter-bank operations, including inter-bank money market transactions, repurchase transactions, investments, and trading in debt instruments; and derivatives and forex trading. In addition, it offers asset management, finance leasing, wealth management, ageing finance, private banking, credit card, payroll, and other non-banking financial services. The company serves corporations, government agencies, and non-financial institutions; and individual customers and micro and small enterprises. The company operates tier-one branches, tier-two branches, and sub-branches; self-service banks; and self-service terminals, as well as smart teller machines. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited operates as a subsidiary of CITIC Financial Holdings Co., Ltd.

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.