Reviewing Barclays (NYSE:BCS) and NU (NYSE:NU)

NU (NYSE:NU) and Barclays (NYSE:BCS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares NU and Barclays’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NU	17.97%	30.12%	4.66%
Barclays	21.26%	8.19%	0.39%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NU and Barclays”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NU	$11.52 billion	7.11	$1.97 billion	$0.51	33.30
Barclays	$34.23 billion	2.59	$8.06 billion	$2.17	11.80

Barclays has higher revenue and earnings than NU. Barclays is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NU, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.0% of NU shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.4% of Barclays shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

NU has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barclays has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for NU and Barclays, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NU	0	3	10	1	2.86
Barclays	0	2	4	0	2.67

NU presently has a consensus price target of $18.04, indicating a potential upside of 6.22%. Given NU’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe NU is more favorable than Barclays.

Summary

NU beats Barclays on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NU

Nu Holdings Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of digital banking services. The company was founded by David Vélez Osorno, Cristina Helena Zingaretti Junqueira, and Adam Edward Wible on February 26, 2016 and is headquartered in George Town, Cayman Islands.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.