Northern Trust (NTRS) Competitors

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) and Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Is FITB or NTRS more profitable?

Fifth Third Bancorp has a net margin of 17.97% compared to Northern Trust's net margin of 13.93%. Northern Trust's return on equity of 13.73% beat Fifth Third Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fifth Third Bancorp	17.97%	13.31%	1.15%
Northern Trust	13.93%	13.73%	1.03%

Do analysts rate FITB or NTRS?

Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $47.53, indicating a potential upside of 10.46%. Northern Trust has a consensus target price of $114.50, indicating a potential downside of 10.50%. Given Fifth Third Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fifth Third Bancorp is more favorable than Northern Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fifth Third Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84
Northern Trust	3 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.92

Does the media refer more to FITB or NTRS?

In the previous week, Fifth Third Bancorp and Fifth Third Bancorp both had 21 articles in the media. Northern Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.17 beat Fifth Third Bancorp's score of 1.03 indicating that Northern Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fifth Third Bancorp	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Northern Trust	17 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, FITB or NTRS?

Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northern Trust has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of FITB or NTRS?

83.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.2% of Northern Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Northern Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, FITB or NTRS?

Fifth Third Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Northern Trust. Northern Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fifth Third Bancorp, 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
Fifth Third Bancorp	$13.28B	2.16	$2.31B	$3.15	13.66
Northern Trust	$16.06B	1.55	$2.03B	$10.72	11.93

Is FITB or NTRS a better dividend stock?

Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Northern Trust pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 47.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northern Trust pays out 28.0% 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. Fifth Third Bancorp has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Fifth Third Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Fifth Third Bancorp beats Northern Trust on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.