Head to Head Contrast: Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) and Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY)

Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) and Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Agri Bank China and Hanover Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agri Bank China	$188.76 billion	1.56	$40.48 billion	$2.89	7.27
Hanover Bancorp	$75.28 million	2.44	$7.49 million	$1.27	20.52

Agri Bank China has higher revenue and earnings than Hanover Bancorp. Agri Bank China is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hanover Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Agri Bank China has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hanover Bancorp has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.0% of Hanover Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 24.4% of Hanover Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Agri Bank China and Hanover Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agri Bank China	21.51%	9.55%	0.61%
Hanover Bancorp	6.71%	6.00%	0.50%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Agri Bank China and Hanover Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agri Bank China	0	2	0	0	2.00
Hanover Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

Hanover Bancorp has a consensus price target of $28.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.36%. Given Hanover Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hanover Bancorp is more favorable than Agri Bank China.

Dividends

Agri Bank China pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Hanover Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Agri Bank China pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hanover Bancorp pays out 31.5% 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. Agri Bank China is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Agri Bank China beats Hanover Bancorp on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agri Bank China

Agricultural Bank of China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. It offers demand, personal call, foreign currency call, time or demand optional, foreign exchange call, foreign exchange time, savings, agreed term, and negotiated deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and loans, including housing, consumer, business, fixed asset, working capital, real estate, and entrusted syndicated loans, as well as trade finances, guarantees and commitments, and loans with custody of export rebates accounts. The company provides credit card, debit card, payment and settlement, private banking, cash management, investment banking, custody, financial market, and financial institution services, as well as trading and wealth management services; and personal fund collection and automatic transfer services. In addition, it offers agro-related personal and corporate banking products and services; telephone, mobile, self-service, television, and SMS banking services; financial leasing services; fund management services; asset custodian services; and insurance and reinsurance related products and services. The company operates domestic branches, including specialized institutions, training institutes, tier-1 branches, tier-2 branches, tier-1 sub-branches, foundation-level branch outlets and other establishments; overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, New York, Dubai International Financial Centre, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, Luxemburg, Dubai, London, Macao, and Hanoi; and overseas representative offices in Vancouver, Taipei, Sao Paulo, and Dushanbe. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Hanover Bancorp

Hanover Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company for Hanover Community Bank, provides personal and business lending and deposit services to businesses, municipalities, and individuals in the New York metro area. The company offers checking, credit cards, debit cards, money market, savings, government and municipal banking, and professional services, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, small business administration, lending directory services, and residential mortgage. In addition, the company offers cash management, online and mobile banking, merchant services, and digital solutions. Its banking offices are located in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, New York Counties, New York, Monmouth County, Freehold, and New Jersey. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Mineola, New York.