Analyzing Auburn National Bancorporation (NASDAQ:AUBN) and Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG)

Auburn National Bancorporation (NASDAQ:AUBN) and Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.5% of Auburn National Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.1% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.7% of Auburn National Bancorporation shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Auburn National Bancorporation and Lloyds Banking Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Auburn National Bancorporation	18.60%	9.10%	0.81%
Lloyds Banking Group	24.97%	10.94%	0.54%

Dividends

Auburn National Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Lloyds Banking Group pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Auburn National Bancorporation pays out 44.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lloyds Banking Group pays out 39.5% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Auburn National Bancorporation and Lloyds Banking Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Auburn National Bancorporation	0	1	0	0	2.00
Lloyds Banking Group	0	3	8	0	2.73

Risk & Volatility

Auburn National Bancorporation has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lloyds Banking Group has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Auburn National Bancorporation and Lloyds Banking Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Auburn National Bancorporation	$43.89 million	2.12	$7.26 million	$2.41	11.08
Lloyds Banking Group	$25.61 billion	3.12	$6.14 billion	$0.43	12.80

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

Summary

Lloyds Banking Group beats Auburn National Bancorporation on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Auburn National Bancorporation

Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for AuburnBank that provides various banking products and services in East Alabama. The company offers checking, savings, and transaction deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, financial, agricultural, real estate construction, and consumer loan products; and other financial services. In addition, the company offers automated teller services; debit cards; online banking, bill payment, and other electronic banking services; and safe deposit boxes. Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Auburn, Alabama.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers. The Commercial Banking segment provides lending, transactional banking, working capital management, risk management, and debt financing services to small and medium-sized entities, corporates, and institutions. The Insurance, Pensions, and Investments segment offers insurance, investment, and pension management products and services. It also provides digital banking services. The company offers its products and services under the Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, MBNA, Schroders Personal Wealth, Black Horse, Lex Autolease, Birmingham Midshires, LDC, AMC, Embark Group, Citra, IWeb, Cavendish Online, and Tusker brand names. Lloyds Banking Group plc was founded in 1695 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.