Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) vs. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) (NASDAQ:FNLC) Head-To-Head Analysis

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) and First Bancorp, Inc (ME) (NASDAQ:FNLC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

2.1% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.4% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of First Bancorp, Inc (ME) shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Lloyds Banking Group has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Lloyds Banking Group pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Lloyds Banking Group pays out 37.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) pays out 45.1% 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. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. First Bancorp, Inc (ME) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Lloyds Banking Group and First Bancorp, Inc (ME), as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lloyds Banking Group	0	4	8	0	2.67
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

This table compares Lloyds Banking Group and First Bancorp, Inc (ME)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lloyds Banking Group	24.97%	10.94%	0.54%
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	21.43%	13.30%	1.18%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lloyds Banking Group and First Bancorp, Inc (ME)”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lloyds Banking Group	$25.61 billion	3.45	$6.14 billion	$0.43	14.12
First Bancorp, Inc (ME)	$177.61 million	2.23	$34.39 million	$3.37	10.43

Lloyds Banking Group has higher revenue and earnings than First Bancorp, Inc (ME). First Bancorp, Inc (ME) 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.

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 First Bancorp, Inc (ME)

The First Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for First National Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers various deposit products, including demand, NOW, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising commercial real estate owner occupied, such as mortgage loans to finance investments in real property such as retail space, offices, industrial buildings, hotels, educational facilities, and other specific or mixed use properties; commercial real estate non-owner occupied loans; commercial construction to finance construction in a mix of owner- and nonowner occupied commercial real estate properties; and commercial and industrial loans, including revolving and term loan for financing working capital and/or capital investment. In addition, it offers commercial multifamily loans; residential real estate term and residential real estate construction loans; loans to municipalities in Maine for capitalized expenditures, construction projects, or tax anticipation notes; home equity revolving and term loans; and personal lines of credit and amortizing loans for various purposes, such as autos, recreational vehicles, debt consolidation, personal expenses, or overdraft protection. Further, the company offers private banking, financial planning, investment management, and trust services to individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations and municipalities; and brokerage, annuity, and various insurance products, as well as payment processing services. It operates through full-service banking offices in Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, Penobscot, Hancock, and Washington counties in the Mid-Coast, Eastern, and Down East regions of Maine. The company was formerly known as First National Lincoln Corporation and changed its name to The First Bancorp, Inc. in April 2008. The First Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1864 and is based in Damariscotta, Maine.