Head to Head Survey: Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY) & National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH)

National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) and Swedbank (OTCMKTS:SWDBY) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Volatility & Risk

National Bankshares has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Swedbank has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares National Bankshares and Swedbank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Bankshares	$60.48 million	4.51	$15.83 million	$3.18	13.47
Swedbank	$11.08 billion	4.06	$3.35 billion	SEK 2.95	13.55

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

Dividends

National Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Swedbank pays an annual dividend of SEK 1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. National Bankshares pays out 47.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Swedbank pays out 50.2% 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.

Profitability

This table compares National Bankshares and Swedbank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Bankshares	23.22%	10.66%	1.09%
Swedbank	29.45%	14.84%	0.99%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

29.7% of National Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of National Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for National Bankshares and Swedbank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Bankshares	0	0	1	1	3.50
Swedbank	2	3	1	0	1.83

Summary

National Bankshares beats Swedbank on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Bankshares

National Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for the National Bank of Blacksburg that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, non-profits, and local governments. The company accepts interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include commercial and agricultural, commercial real estate, residential real estate, home equity, and various consumer loan products, as well as loans for the construction of commercial and residential properties. The company also provides business and consumer debit and credit cards; letters of credit, night depository services, safe deposit boxes, utility payment services, and automatic funds transfer; wealth management, trust, and estate services; non-deposit investment and insurance products; and telephone, mobile, and Internet banking services. The company was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia.

About Swedbank

Swedbank AB (publ) provides various banking products and services to private and corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the United States, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, and China. The company operates through three business areas: Swedish Banking, Baltic Banking, and Corporates and Institutions. It offers savings accounts, mutual funds and insurance savings, pension savings, institutional asset management, and other savings and investment products; private residential lending, consumer financing, corporate lending, leasing, and other financing products, as well as trade finance and factoring services; and current accounts, cash handling, debit and credit cards, and card acquiring, as well as domestic, international, mobile, document, and other payment products. The company also provides equity trading, structured products, corporate finance, custody services, fixed income and currency trading, and other capital market products; and administrative services, treasury operations, real estate brokerage and management services, legal services, safe deposit boxes, and other services. In addition, it offers pension insurance and plan, life, endowment insurance, and personal insurance products; investment management, investment banking, and mortgage lending services; and transaction banking services comprising cash management, securities, account, and clearing and settlement services, as well as Internet and mobile banking services. The company was formerly known as ForeningsSparbanken AB and changed its name to Swedbank AB (publ) in September 2006. Swedbank AB (publ) was founded in 1820 and is headquartered in Sundbyberg, Sweden.