Barclays (BARC) Competitors

Barclays (LON:BARC) and HSBC (LON:HSBA) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in BARC or HSBA?

39.1% of Barclays shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.2% of HSBC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Barclays shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of HSBC shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is BARC or HSBA more profitable?

HSBC has a net margin of 34.63% compared to Barclays' net margin of 19.54%. HSBC's return on equity of 12.54% beat Barclays' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barclays	19.54%	6.97%	0.32%
HSBC	34.63%	12.54%	0.80%

Is BARC or HSBA a better dividend stock?

Barclays pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. HSBC pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Barclays pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HSBC pays out 63.8% 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.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, BARC or HSBA?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barclays	£27.85B	1.96	£4.87B	£0.41	961.23
HSBC	£69.07B	2.60	£29.03B	£1.01	1,028.21

Which has more risk and volatility, BARC or HSBA?

Barclays has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HSBC has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate BARC or HSBA?

Barclays presently has a consensus target price of GBX 424.33, suggesting a potential upside of 9.00%. HSBC has a consensus target price of GBX 980.83, suggesting a potential downside of 5.55%. Given Barclays' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Barclays is more favorable than HSBC.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barclays	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
HSBC	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the media refer more to BARC or HSBA?

In the previous week, Barclays had 20 more articles in the media than HSBC. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for Barclays and 12 mentions for HSBC. HSBC's average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat Barclays' score of 0.55 indicating that HSBC is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Barclays	14 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
HSBC	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

HSBC beats Barclays on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.