Citizens Financial Group (CFG) Competitors

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

Is CFG or BNS a better dividend stock?

Citizens Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Bank of Nova Scotia pays an annual dividend of $2.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Citizens Financial Group pays out 53.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of Nova Scotia pays out 83.1% 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.

Does the media favor CFG or BNS?

In the previous week, Citizens Financial Group had 8 more articles in the media than Bank of Nova Scotia. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Citizens Financial Group and 8 mentions for Bank of Nova Scotia. Citizens Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Bank of Nova Scotia's score of 1.18 indicating that Citizens Financial Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Citizens Financial Group	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Bank of Nova Scotia	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CFG or BNS more profitable?

Citizens Financial Group has a net margin of 12.21% compared to Bank of Nova Scotia's net margin of 10.20%. Bank of Nova Scotia's return on equity of 11.56% beat Citizens Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citizens Financial Group	12.21%	6.75%	0.68%
Bank of Nova Scotia	10.20%	11.56%	0.61%

Do analysts rate CFG or BNS?

Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus price target of $46.18, suggesting a potential upside of 25.07%. Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus price target of $81.00, suggesting a potential upside of 62.06%. Given Bank of Nova Scotia's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bank of Nova Scotia is more favorable than Citizens Financial Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citizens Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Bank of Nova Scotia	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44

Which has more risk & volatility, CFG or BNS?

Citizens Financial Group has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of Nova Scotia has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of CFG or BNS?

94.9% of Citizens Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.1% of Bank of Nova Scotia shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Citizens Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better earnings & valuation, CFG or BNS?

Bank of Nova Scotia has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Financial Group. Citizens Financial Group 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
Citizens Financial Group	$7.77B	2.08	$1.51B	$3.15	11.72
Bank of Nova Scotia	$34.49B	1.81	$5.70B	$3.54	14.12

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CFG or BNS?

Bank of Nova Scotia received 212 more outperform votes than Citizens Financial Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.29% of users gave Bank of Nova Scotia an outperform vote while only 61.70% of users gave Citizens Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Citizens Financial Group	Outperform Votes 543 61.70%	Underperform Votes 337 38.30%
Bank of Nova Scotia	Outperform Votes 755 63.29%	Underperform Votes 438 36.71%

Summary

Citizens Financial Group beats Bank of Nova Scotia on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.