Head to Head Review: Atlantic Union Bankshares (NYSE:AUB) and Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY)

Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY) and Atlantic Union Bankshares (NYSE:AUB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Credit Agricole has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlantic Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Credit Agricole and Atlantic Union Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Credit Agricole	0	4	1	0	2.20
Atlantic Union Bankshares	0	3	4	0	2.57

Atlantic Union Bankshares has a consensus price target of $45.80, suggesting a potential upside of 15.37%. Given Atlantic Union Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Atlantic Union Bankshares is more favorable than Credit Agricole.

Dividends

Credit Agricole pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Credit Agricole pays out 53.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays out 40.4% 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. Atlantic Union Bankshares has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Credit Agricole and Atlantic Union Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Credit Agricole	23.39%	31.64%	1.14%
Atlantic Union Bankshares	23.97%	10.79%	1.45%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.6% of Credit Agricole shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Credit Agricole and Atlantic Union Bankshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Credit Agricole	$31.76 billion	1.59	$8.00 billion	$1.12	7.46
Atlantic Union Bankshares	$2.04 billion	2.78	$273.71 million	$3.66	10.85

Credit Agricole has higher revenue and earnings than Atlantic Union Bankshares. Credit Agricole is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atlantic Union Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Atlantic Union Bankshares beats Credit Agricole on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Credit Agricole

Crédit Agricole S.A. provides retail, corporate, insurance, and investment banking products and services in France and internationally. It operates through French Retail Banking Regional Banks; French Retail Banking – LCL; International Retail Banking; Asset Gathering; Large Customers; and Specialised Financial Services segments. The company offers banking products and services, finance, savings, wealth management, payment, and cash flow management services; consumer finance products; savings/retirement, death and disability/creditor/group, and property and casualty insurance products; investment solutions; and banking and specialized financial services. It also provides investment banking, structured finance, international trade finance, commercial banking, capital market, and syndication services; financing solutions for property and equipment investment and renewal requirements; trade receivable financing and management solutions for corporates; asset servicing solutions for investment products, as well as various asset classes, such as execution, clearing, forex, security lending and borrowing, custody, depositary bank, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing solutions, and fund distribution support and issuer services; and online banking services. The company serves retail customers, corporates, banks and financial institutions, government agencies, and local authorities. Crédit Agricole S.A. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Montrouge, France. Crédit Agricole S.A. operates as a subsidiary of SAS Rue La Boetie.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes, as well as debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides treasury management and capital market, wealth management, private banking, trust, financial and retirement planning, brokerage, investment management, equipment finance, mortgage banking, and insurance products and services. The company offers products and services through full-service branches and ATMs, as well as through its mobile and internet banking. The company was formerly known as Union Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in May 2019. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.