China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY) versus Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi (OTCMKTS:AKBTY) Head-To-Head Comparison

Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi (OTCMKTS:AKBTY) and China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi and China Merchants Bank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi	$19.70 billion	0.44	$1.45 billion	$0.56	5.98
China Merchants Bank	$65.04 billion	2.34	$20.89 billion	$3.97	7.61

China Merchants Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi. Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than China Merchants Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi and China Merchants Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi	7.87%	21.12%	1.83%
China Merchants Bank	32.40%	12.14%	1.21%

Dividends

Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. China Merchants Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi pays out 14.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. China Merchants Bank pays out 14.4% 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. Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi and China Merchants Bank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi	0	0	0	0	0.00
China Merchants Bank	0	1	0	0	2.00

Volatility & Risk

Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Merchants Bank has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

China Merchants Bank beats Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi

Akbank T.A.S., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services in Turkey and internationally. It operates through Consumer Banking and Private Banking; Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking, and SME Banking; and Treasury, Other, and Unallovated segments. The company’s consumer banking services comprise deposit accounts, retail loans, commercial installment loans, credit cards, insurance products, and asset management services, as well as bank cards, investment funds trading, automatic payment, foreign currency trading, safe deposit box rental, cheques, money transfer, investment banking, and telephone and internet banking. It also offers services to large, medium, and small size corporate and commercial customers that include Turkish Lira (TL) and foreign currency denominated working capital loans financing for investments, foreign trade financing, derivative instruments for hedging purposes of foreign currency and interest risk, letters of credit, foreign currency trading, corporate finance, and deposit and cash management services, as well as project finance loans; and working capital management, delivering cash management services based on customers’ requests, such as collection and payment services, and liquidity and information management. In addition, the company engages in treasury activities consisting of TL and foreign currency spot and forward transactions, treasury and government bonds, Eurobonds, and private sector bond transactions, as well as derivative trading activities; and marketing and pricing activities related to treasury products. Further, it provides financial leasing services, investment and pension funds management, and portfolio management, as well as offers payment services and issues electronic money. Akbank T.A.S. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.

About China Merchants Bank

China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services. It operates through Wholesale Finance Business, Retail Finance Business, and Other Business segments. The company offers current, demand, time, call, savings, notice, and renminbi accounts. Its loan products include personal commercial real estate, consumption, housing, and car loans; loans to finance for studying abroad; micro-business loans; mortgage loans for equipment; joint guarantee, special guarantee, and housing mortgage loan; bank acceptance, discount, liquid capital, and fixed asset loans; and loans for vessels. The company also offers credit cards; insurance products; open-ended funds; discount and guarantees for commercial bills, redemption of commercial bills, and guaranteed discount for commercial acceptance bills; and financial consultation, debt financing underwriting, merger and acquisition financing, and equity financing and enterprise listing services. In addition, it provides forfeiting and risk participation, escrow, cross-border RMB clearing, and interbank services; and risk and financial management, cross-border RMB and oversea financing, international factoring and settlement, and trade finance services. Further, the company offers financial leasing and guarantee, investment and wealth management, forex option and gold trading, forex express trading, international, offshore and private banking, custody, pension, and electronic banking services. The company also operates in Hong Kong, New York, London, Singapore, Luxembourg, Sydney, and Taipei. China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.