Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) Competitors

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) and Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Is HSBC or BNS more profitable?

HSBC has a net margin of 14.55% compared to Bank of Nova Scotia's net margin of 8.83%. HSBC's return on equity of 12.55% beat Bank of Nova Scotia's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HSBC	14.55%	12.55%	0.81%
Bank of Nova Scotia	8.83%	11.27%	0.60%

Is HSBC or BNS a better dividend stock?

HSBC pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Bank of Nova Scotia pays an annual dividend of $3.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. HSBC pays out 36.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of Nova Scotia pays out 94.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bank of Nova Scotia has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Bank of Nova Scotia is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, HSBC or BNS?

HSBC has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of Nova Scotia. HSBC is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank of Nova Scotia, 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
HSBC	$141.75B	1.51	$23.98B	$5.45	11.15
Bank of Nova Scotia	$55.90B	1.23	$5.70B	$3.41	16.17

Does the media favor HSBC or BNS?

In the previous week, HSBC had 10 more articles in the media than Bank of Nova Scotia. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for HSBC and 5 mentions for Bank of Nova Scotia. Bank of Nova Scotia's average media sentiment score of 0.87 beat HSBC's score of 0.61 indicating that Bank of Nova Scotia is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
HSBC	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Bank of Nova Scotia	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, HSBC or BNS?

HSBC has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of Nova Scotia has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer HSBC or BNS?

HSBC presently has a consensus price target of $63.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.69%. Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus price target of $81.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.87%. Given Bank of Nova Scotia's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of Nova Scotia is more favorable than HSBC.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HSBC	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Bank of Nova Scotia	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of HSBC or BNS?

1.5% of HSBC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.1% of Bank of Nova Scotia shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of HSBC shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

HSBC beats Bank of Nova Scotia on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.