Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) and Credit Agricole (OTCMKTS:CRARY – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
87.3% of Popular shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of Credit Agricole shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Popular shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Popular and Credit Agricole’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Popular | 21.37% | 15.34% | 1.26% |
| Credit Agricole | 23.39% | 31.64% | 1.14% |
Volatility & Risk
Dividends
Popular pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Credit Agricole pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Popular pays out 24.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Credit Agricole pays out 37.5% 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. Popular has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Popular and Credit Agricole, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Popular | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 3.00 |
| Credit Agricole | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Popular currently has a consensus price target of $187.42, suggesting a potential upside of 19.92%. Given Popular’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Popular is more favorable than Credit Agricole.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Popular and Credit Agricole”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Popular | $4.44 billion | 2.24 | $833.16 million | $14.80 | 10.56 |
| Credit Agricole | $31.76 billion | 1.74 | $8.00 billion | $1.12 | 8.05 |
Credit Agricole has higher revenue and earnings than Popular. Credit Agricole is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Popular, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Popular beats Credit Agricole on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Popular
Popular, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial, commercial multi-family, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage loans; consumer loans, including personal loans, credit cards, automobile loans, home equity lines of credit, and other loans to individual borrowers; construction loans; and lease financing comprising automobile loans/leases. In addition, the company provides investment banking, auto and equipment leasing and financing, broker-dealer, and insurance services; debit cards; and online banking services. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
About Credit Agricole
Crédit Agricole S.A. provides retail, corporate, insurance, and investment banking products and services in France and internationally. It operates through French Retail Banking Regional Banks; French Retail Banking – LCL; International Retail Banking; Asset Gathering; Large Customers; and Specialised Financial Services segments. The company offers banking products and services, finance, savings, wealth management, payment, and cash flow management services; consumer finance products; savings/retirement, death and disability/creditor/group, and property and casualty insurance products; investment solutions; and banking and specialized financial services. It also provides investment banking, structured finance, international trade finance, commercial banking, capital market, and syndication services; financing solutions for property and equipment investment and renewal requirements; trade receivable financing and management solutions for corporates; asset servicing solutions for investment products, as well as various asset classes, such as execution, clearing, forex, security lending and borrowing, custody, depositary bank, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing solutions, and fund distribution support and issuer services; and online banking services. The company serves retail customers, corporates, banks and financial institutions, government agencies, and local authorities. Crédit Agricole S.A. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Montrouge, France. Crédit Agricole S.A. operates as a subsidiary of SAS Rue La Boetie.
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