Bank of Ireland Group (BIRG) Competitors

Bank of Ireland Group (LON:BIRG) and Secure Trust Bank (LON:STB) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Is BIRG or STB more profitable?

Bank of Ireland Group has a net margin of 36.41% compared to Secure Trust Bank's net margin of 7.20%. Bank of Ireland Group's return on equity of 12.22% beat Secure Trust Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Ireland Group	36.41%	12.22%	1.03%
Secure Trust Bank	7.20%	7.43%	0.72%

Is BIRG or STB a better dividend stock?

Bank of Ireland Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Secure Trust Bank pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Bank of Ireland Group pays out 53.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Secure Trust Bank pays out 27.1% 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.

Does the media prefer BIRG or STB?

In the previous week, Secure Trust Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat Bank of Ireland Group's score of 0.00 indicating that Secure Trust Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Bank of Ireland Group	Neutral
Secure Trust Bank	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BIRG or STB?

59.8% of Bank of Ireland Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.4% of Secure Trust Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Bank of Ireland Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.2% of Secure Trust Bank shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate BIRG or STB?

Secure Trust Bank has a consensus price target of GBX 1,420, suggesting a potential upside of 25.11%. Given Secure Trust Bank's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Secure Trust Bank is more favorable than Bank of Ireland Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Ireland Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Secure Trust Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility and risk, BIRG or STB?

Bank of Ireland Group has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Secure Trust Bank has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, BIRG or STB?

Bank of Ireland Group has higher revenue and earnings than Secure Trust Bank. Bank of Ireland Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Secure Trust Bank, 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
Bank of Ireland Group	£4.26B	0.03	£147.90B	£1.19	11.52
Secure Trust Bank	£204.60M	1.03	£26.00M	£1.01	1,119.33

Summary

Bank of Ireland Group beats Secure Trust Bank on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.