Barclays (BARC) Competitors

Barclays (LON:BARC) and HSBC (LON:HSBA) are both large-cap financial services 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, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of 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 will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor BARC or HSBA?

In the previous week, Barclays had 17 more articles in the media than HSBC. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Barclays and 13 mentions for HSBC. Barclays' average media sentiment score of 0.45 beat HSBC's score of 0.03 indicating that Barclays is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Barclays	10 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
HSBC	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has stronger earnings & 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	1.83	£4.87B	£0.41	890.88
HSBC	£69.07B	2.39	£29.03B	£1.01	938.48

Do analysts recommend BARC or HSBA?

Barclays presently has a consensus price target of GBX 409.33, indicating a potential upside of 13.45%. HSBC has a consensus price target of GBX 969.17, indicating a potential upside of 2.25%. Given Barclays' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly 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

Which has more volatility & risk, BARC or HSBA?

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

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.

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%

Summary

Barclays and HSBC tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.