Financial Contrast: Woori Bank (NYSE:WF) vs. Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) and Woori Bank (NYSE:WF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.2% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.4% of Woori Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lakeland Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lakeland Financial and Woori Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Financial	26.04%	14.67%	1.58%
Woori Bank	13.28%	8.18%	0.52%

Dividends

Lakeland Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Woori Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Lakeland Financial pays out 47.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Woori Bank pays out 21.2% 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. Lakeland Financial has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Lakeland Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Lakeland Financial has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Woori Bank has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lakeland Financial and Woori Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Financial	$421.71 million	3.35	$103.36 million	$4.36	13.04
Woori Bank	$16.27 billion	1.10	$2.16 billion	$8.68	8.39

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lakeland Financial and Woori Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Financial	0	3	1	0	2.25
Woori Bank	0	0	1	1	3.50

Lakeland Financial currently has a consensus target price of $66.50, suggesting a potential upside of 17.00%. Given Lakeland Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lakeland Financial is more favorable than Woori Bank.

Summary

Lakeland Financial beats Woori Bank on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate and multi-family residential, construction, agri-business and agricultural, consumer 1-4 family mortgage, and other commercial and consumer loans. The company also provides retail and merchant credit card services; corporate treasury management, wealth advisory, and trust services; retail brokerage services, including various financial and investment products, such as annuities and life insurance; and mobile business banking and on-line treasury management services. It serves commercial real estate, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, wholesale, finance and insurance, accommodation and food services, and health care industries. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana.

About Woori Bank

Woori Financial Group Inc., a financial holding company, operates as a commercial bank that provides a range of financial products and services to individuals, corporations, and small- and medium-sized enterprises in Korea. It operates through Banking, Credit Card, Capital, Investment Banking, and Others segments. The company offers savings, demand, installment, and time deposits; certificates of deposit; repurchase instruments; and working capital, facilities, general purpose household, mortgage, and home equity loans. It also provides debit and credit cards, cash services, card loans, and related services; lease financing; and securities operation, sale of financial instruments, project financing, and other related solutions. In addition, the company offers credit purchase, cash advance, credit card loans, foreign exchange services and dealing, import and export-related services, offshore lending, syndicated loans and foreign currency securities investment, investment trust products, bancassurance, and private equity funds. Further, it is involved in the real estate trust, system software development and maintenance, financing, credit information, securities investment and trading, derivatives trading, trust, asset securitization, investment and international banking, money transfer, and other services. Additionally, the company offers automated telephone, internet, and mobile banking services; and trust management, trustee, and custodian services. Woori Financial Group Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.