Banco Santander (SAN) Competitors

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Which has more risk & volatility, SAN or BAC?

Banco Santander has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of America has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate SAN or BAC?

Bank of America has a consensus target price of $50.13, indicating a potential upside of 5.58%. Given Bank of America's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of America is more favorable than Banco Santander.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Santander	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Bank of America	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77

Is SAN or BAC a better dividend stock?

Banco Santander pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Bank of America pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Banco Santander pays out 20.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of America pays out 30.4% 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. Bank of America has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Bank of America is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SAN or BAC?

9.2% of Banco Santander shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.7% of Bank of America shares are held by institutional investors. 9.5% of Banco Santander shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Bank of America shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor SAN or BAC?

In the previous week, Bank of America had 96 more articles in the media than Banco Santander. MarketBeat recorded 109 mentions for Bank of America and 13 mentions for Banco Santander. Bank of America's average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Banco Santander's score of 0.75 indicating that Bank of America is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Banco Santander	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Bank of America	63 Very Positive mention(s)	25 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, SAN or BAC?

Bank of America has higher revenue and earnings than Banco Santander. Banco Santander is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank of America, 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
Banco Santander	$66.96B	2.09	$13.61B	$0.90	10.45
Bank of America	$192.43B	1.83	$27.13B	$3.42	13.88

Is SAN or BAC more profitable?

Banco Santander has a net margin of 17.30% compared to Bank of America's net margin of 14.81%. Banco Santander's return on equity of 11.98% beat Bank of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Santander	17.30%	11.98%	0.71%
Bank of America	14.81%	10.25%	0.84%

Summary

Bank of America beats Banco Santander on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.