Analyzing Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) and Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT)

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) and Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Banco Santander has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beacon Financial has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Banco Santander and Beacon Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Santander	26.94%	12.43%	0.75%
Beacon Financial	8.96%	9.15%	1.01%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

9.2% of Banco Santander shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.1% of Beacon Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.5% of Banco Santander shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Beacon Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Banco Santander and Beacon Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Santander	0	2	11	1	2.93
Beacon Financial	0	5	2	0	2.29

Banco Santander presently has a consensus price target of $15.10, suggesting a potential upside of 11.48%. Beacon Financial has a consensus price target of $32.50, suggesting a potential upside of 18.85%. Given Beacon Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Beacon Financial is more favorable than Banco Santander.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Banco Santander and Beacon Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco Santander	$66.36 billion	3.00	$15.95 billion	$1.23	11.01
Beacon Financial	$882.68 million	2.60	$90.27 million	$1.32	20.72

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

Dividends

Banco Santander pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Beacon Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Banco Santander pays out 17.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Beacon Financial pays out 97.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Banco Santander beats Beacon Financial on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, S.A. provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and project finance, debt capital markets, global transaction banking, and corporate finance services. The company also provides asset management and private banking services; and insurance products. In addition, it offers corporate and investment banking services; and digital payment solutions. Further, it offers online banking and financial services to retail, business, institutional, corporate, private banking and university customers and clients. The company was formerly known as Banco Santander Central Hispano SA and changed its name to Banco Santander, S.A. in February 2007. Banco Santander, S.A. was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

About Beacon Financial

Truist Financial Corp. operates as a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. The firm offers a variety of loans and lease financing to individuals and entities, including insurance premium financing, permanent commercial real estate financing arrangements, loan servicing for third-party investors, direct consumer finance loans to individuals, credit card lending, automobile financing and equipment financing. It also markets a range of other services, including deposits, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, health Truist Financial Corp. operates as a financial holding company. It engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. The company operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth; Corporate and Commercial Banking; and Insurance Holdings. The firm offers a variety of loans and lease financing to individuals and entities, including insurance premium financing, permanent commercial real estate financing arrangements, loan servicing for third-party investors, direct consumer finance loans to individuals, credit card lending, automobile financing and equipment financing. It also markets a range of other services, including deposits, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, health insurance and commercial general liability insurance on an agency basis and through a wholesale insurance brokerage operation, merchant services, trust and retirement services, comprehensive wealth advisory services, asset management and capital markets services. The company was founded on December 6, 2019 and is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. insurance and commercial general liability insurance on an agency basis and through a wholesale insurance brokerage operation, merchant services, trust and retirement services, comprehensive wealth advisory services, asset management and capital markets services. The company was founded on December 6, 2019 and is headquartered in Charlotte, NC.