Contrasting Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) and KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB)

KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB) and Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares KB Financial Group and Valley National Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KB Financial Group	17.67%	10.11%	0.76%
Valley National Bancorp	20.44%	9.63%	1.10%

Risk and Volatility

KB Financial Group has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valley National Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for KB Financial Group and Valley National Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KB Financial Group	0	0	2	1	3.33
Valley National Bancorp	0	3	11	1	2.87

Valley National Bancorp has a consensus target price of $16.86, suggesting a potential upside of 15.98%. Given Valley National Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Valley National Bancorp is more favorable than KB Financial Group.

Dividends

KB Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Valley National Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. KB Financial Group pays out 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valley National Bancorp pays out 34.9% 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.5% of KB Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of Valley National Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 69.0% of KB Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Valley National Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares KB Financial Group and Valley National Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KB Financial Group	$23.41 billion	1.72	$4.04 billion	$11.65	9.72
Valley National Bancorp	$3.49 billion	2.30	$597.98 million	$1.26	11.54

KB Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Valley National Bancorp. KB Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valley National Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Valley National Bancorp beats KB Financial Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KB Financial Group

KB Financial Group Inc. provides a range of banking and related financial services to consumers and corporations in South Korea, the United States, New Zealand, China, Cambodia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and internationally. The company operates through Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, and Non-Life Insurance segments. It offers loans, deposit products, and other related financial products and services to large, small, medium-sized enterprises, and small office/home office, as well as individuals and households; investment banking, and brokerage and supporting services; life insurance products; non-life insurance products, including fire, maritime, injury, technology, liability, package, title, guarantee, other special type insurances, automobile, long-term nonlife, property damage, injury, driver, savings, illness, nursing, pension, and others; and credit sale, cash service, card loan, and other supporting services. The company also engages in securities and derivatives trading, funding, and other supporting activities. In addition, it offers foreign exchange transaction; financial investment; credit card and installment financing; financial leasing; auto Installment finance; real estate trust management; capital and collective investment; collection of receivables or credit investigation; software advisory, development, and supply; microfinance; investment advisory; claim; management; savings banking; information and communication; e-commerce; and general advisory services. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments. The company offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; automobile financing; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans. It also invests in various securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks; and provides international banking services, such as standby and documentary letters of credit, and related products, as well as foreign exchange transactions, documentary collections, and foreign wire transfers services. In addition, the company offers investment services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses; and trusts investment strategies designed for various investment profiles and objectives. Further, it provides trust services, such as living and testamentary trusts, investment management, custodial and escrow services, and estate administration to individuals; tax credit advisory services; brokerage services; property and casualty, life, health, and title insurance agency services; and health care equipment lending and other commercial equipment leasing services, as well as owns real estate related investments. Additionally, the company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services; receivable, payment, and security solution, merchant, payroll processing, and liquidity services; credit cards; and drive-in and night deposit, automated teller machine, remote deposit capture, and safe deposit facility services. Valley National Bancorp was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey.