Intesa Sanpaolo (OTCMKTS:ISNPY) and Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Head-To-Head Review

Intesa Sanpaolo (OTCMKTS:ISNPY) and Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.2% of Intesa Sanpaolo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.2% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are owned 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.

Volatility and Risk

Intesa Sanpaolo has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lloyds Banking Group has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Intesa Sanpaolo pays an annual dividend of $1.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Lloyds Banking Group pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Intesa Sanpaolo pays out 52.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lloyds Banking Group pays out 59.1% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Intesa Sanpaolo and Lloyds Banking Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intesa Sanpaolo	0	3	4	1	2.75
Lloyds Banking Group	0	3	8	0	2.73

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Intesa Sanpaolo and Lloyds Banking Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intesa Sanpaolo	$43.96 billion	2.70	$10.54 billion	$3.55	11.51
Lloyds Banking Group	$25.61 billion	3.09	$6.14 billion	$0.44	12.19

Intesa Sanpaolo has higher revenue and earnings than Lloyds Banking Group. Intesa Sanpaolo 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.

Profitability

This table compares Intesa Sanpaolo and Lloyds Banking Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intesa Sanpaolo	23.71%	13.48%	0.98%
Lloyds Banking Group	25.11%	10.63%	0.53%

About Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. provides various financial products and services primarily in Italy. It operates through six segments: Banca dei Territori, IMI Corporate & Investment Banking, International Subsidiary Banks, Asset Management, Private Banking, and Insurance. The company offers lending and deposit products; private and commercial banking, corporate and transaction banking, structured finance, investment banking, public finance, and capital markets; industrial credit, leasing, and factoring; asset management; life and non-life insurance and pension products; asset and wealth management; private investments; and bancassurance products. The company serves individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, non-profit customers, corporates and financial institutions, public administration, private clients and high net worth individuals, institutional clientele, and other customers. Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Turin, Italy.

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.