Analyzing Banco Comercial Portugues (OTCMKTS:BPCGY) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC)

Banco Comercial Portugues (OTCMKTS:BPCGY) and Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Banco Comercial Portugues and Nicolet Bankshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco Comercial Portugues	$5.82 billion	3.55	$980.79 million	$0.91	15.32
Nicolet Bankshares	$556.52 million	6.49	$150.69 million	$8.81	19.57

Banco Comercial Portugues has higher revenue and earnings than Nicolet Bankshares. Banco Comercial Portugues is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nicolet Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Banco Comercial Portugues pays an annual dividend of $0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Banco Comercial Portugues pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 16.3% 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. Nicolet Bankshares has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Banco Comercial Portugues and Nicolet Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Comercial Portugues	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nicolet Bankshares	21.77%	11.36%	1.62%

Risk & Volatility

Banco Comercial Portugues has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Banco Comercial Portugues and Nicolet Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Comercial Portugues	0	2	0	0	2.00
Nicolet Bankshares	0	2	5	0	2.71

Nicolet Bankshares has a consensus target price of $183.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.15%. Given Nicolet Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Nicolet Bankshares is more favorable than Banco Comercial Portugues.

Summary

Nicolet Bankshares beats Banco Comercial Portugues on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Banco Comercial Portugues

Banco Comercial Português, S.A., a private sector bank, engages in the provision of various banking and financial products and services in Portugal and internationally. It operates through Retail Banking; Companies, Corporate & Investment Banking; Private Banking; Foreign Business; and Other segments. It offers a range of financial products and services, including current accounts, payment systems, savings and investment products, private banking, asset management, and investment banking services, such as mortgage loans, personal loans, commercial banking, leasing, factoring and insurance, and others. The company is also involved in the provision of investment fund and real estate management, e-commerce, web portal, real estate investment fund, trade finance, trust, consulting, brokerage, marketing, and real estate services, as well as internet, telephone, and mobile banking services. Banco Comercial Português, S.A. was incorporated in 1985 and is based in Porto, Portugal.

About Nicolet Bankshares

Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Nicolet National Bank that provides banking products and services for businesses and individuals in Wisconsin and Michigan. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market accounts; various certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial loans, including commercial, industrial, and business loans and lines of credit; commercial real estate loans; agricultural (AG) production and AG real estate loans; commercial real estate investment real estate loans; construction and land development loans; residential real estate loans, such as residential first lien and junior lien mortgages, home equity loans, lines of credit, and residential construction loans; and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides cash management, international banking, personal brokerage, safe deposit boxes, and trust and fiduciary services, as well as wealth management and retirement plan services. Further, it offers mortgage refinancing; online services, such as commercial, retail, and trust online banking; automated bill payment, mobile banking deposits and account access, and remote deposit capture services; and other services consisting of wire transfers, debit cards, credit cards, pre-paid gift cards, direct deposits, and official bank checks, as well as facilitates crop insurance products. The company was formerly known as Green Bay Financial Corporation and changed its name to Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. in March 2002. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.