Head to Head Comparison: Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY) and China Minsheng (OTCMKTS:CMAKY)

Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY) and China Minsheng (OTCMKTS:CMAKY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Credit Agricole has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Minsheng has a beta of 0.28, meaning that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.6% of Credit Agricole shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Credit Agricole pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. China Minsheng pays an annual dividend of $0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Credit Agricole pays out 35.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Minsheng pays out 22.1% 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. China Minsheng is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Credit Agricole and China Minsheng, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Credit Agricole	0	4	1	0	2.20
China Minsheng	0	1	0	0	2.00

Profitability

This table compares Credit Agricole and China Minsheng’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Credit Agricole	24.36%	24.26%	0.88%
China Minsheng	11.70%	4.23%	0.38%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Credit Agricole and China Minsheng”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Credit Agricole	$31.76 billion	1.89	$8.00 billion	$1.20	8.26
China Minsheng	$33.55 billion	0.54	$4.25 billion	$0.86	4.78

Credit Agricole has higher earnings, but lower revenue than China Minsheng. China Minsheng is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Credit Agricole, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Credit Agricole beats China Minsheng on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Credit Agricole

Crédit Agricole S.A. provides retail, corporate, insurance, and investment banking products and services in France and internationally. It operates through French Retail Banking Regional Banks; French Retail Banking – LCL; International Retail Banking; Asset Gathering; Large Customers; and Specialised Financial Services segments. The company offers banking products and services, finance, savings, wealth management, payment, and cash flow management services; consumer finance products; savings/retirement, death and disability/creditor/group, and property and casualty insurance products; investment solutions; and banking and specialized financial services. It also provides investment banking, structured finance, international trade finance, commercial banking, capital market, and syndication services; financing solutions for property and equipment investment and renewal requirements; trade receivable financing and management solutions for corporates; asset servicing solutions for investment products, as well as various asset classes, such as execution, clearing, forex, security lending and borrowing, custody, depositary bank, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing solutions, and fund distribution support and issuer services; and online banking services. The company serves retail customers, corporates, banks and financial institutions, government agencies, and local authorities. Crédit Agricole S.A. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Montrouge, France. Crédit Agricole S.A. operates as a subsidiary of SAS Rue La Boetie.

About China Minsheng

China Minsheng Banking Corp., Ltd. provides banking products and services for individuals, small and micro-enterprises, corporate customers, government agencies, and financial institutions in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, and Others segments. Its deposit products include saving accounts, deposit books and certificates, contracted deposits, agreement deposits, call deposits, corporate term deposits, and corporate current deposits. The company also offers personal housing mortgage, individual automobile purchase, household composite consumption, micro-credit products for individuals, medium and long term, and short-term working capital loans; and debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides appointed and domestic remittance, payment and collection agent, clearing, safe deposit boxes, VIP, and salary and welfare agent card services, as well as internet, mobile, telephone, and self-serve banking services. Further, the company offers gross settlement; wages distribution agency and letter of guarantee; cash management; trade finance; industrial chain finance; individual forex settlement, forex remittance, travelers promissory notes, collection, individual deposit certificate, and guarantee letter products; and comprehensive credit granting, forex settlement and sale, financial product investment, asset management, and trust financing services. Additionally, it provides convenient finance and investment banking services, as well as non-financial services in the education, business travel, traveler, art, luxury life, health, club, and isports areas. The company operates through branch-level institutions, business outlets, community sub-branches, and small business sub-branches. China Minsheng Banking Corp., Ltd. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.