Comparing Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) and Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) and Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Dividends

Bank of Nova Scotia pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Bank of Nova Scotia pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Glacier Bancorp pays out 52.4% 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. Bank of Nova Scotia has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Bank of Nova Scotia is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.1% of Bank of Nova Scotia shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Bank of Nova Scotia has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Bank of Nova Scotia and Glacier Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Nova Scotia	0	4	5	1	2.70
Glacier Bancorp	1	2	4	0	2.43

Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus target price of $105.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.63%. Glacier Bancorp has a consensus target price of $56.40, indicating a potential upside of 17.77%. Given Glacier Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Glacier Bancorp is more favorable than Bank of Nova Scotia.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bank of Nova Scotia and Glacier Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of Nova Scotia	$52.70 billion	2.14	$5.56 billion	$5.53	16.79
Glacier Bancorp	$1.44 billion	4.34	$239.03 million	$2.67	17.94

Bank of Nova Scotia has higher revenue and earnings than Glacier Bancorp. Bank of Nova Scotia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Glacier Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Bank of Nova Scotia and Glacier Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Nova Scotia	13.91%	16.12%	0.72%
Glacier Bancorp	21.24%	8.38%	1.12%

Summary

Bank of Nova Scotia beats Glacier Bancorp on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and retail automotive financing solutions. It also provides business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses. In addition, it provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternatives, and institutional funds. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot acquisition loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; paycheck protection program loans; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Further, the company provides mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It has 224 locations, including 188 branches and 36 loan or administration offices in 75 counties within 8 states comprising Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.