Critical Comparison: Shinhan Financial Group (NYSE:SHG) vs. Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Shinhan Financial Group (NYSE:SHG) and Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Dividends

Shinhan Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Huntington Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Shinhan Financial Group pays out 15.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Huntington Bancshares pays out 47.3% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Shinhan Financial Group and Huntington Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shinhan Financial Group	12.21%	7.34%	0.59%
Huntington Bancshares	16.23%	11.23%	0.99%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Shinhan Financial Group and Huntington Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shinhan Financial Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Huntington Bancshares	1	3	16	2	2.86

Huntington Bancshares has a consensus price target of $17.58, suggesting a potential upside of 8.62%. Given Huntington Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Huntington Bancshares is more favorable than Shinhan Financial Group.

Volatility & Risk

Shinhan Financial Group has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

7.8% of Shinhan Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Shinhan Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Shinhan Financial Group and Huntington Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shinhan Financial Group	$17,568.46 billion	0.00	$3.49 billion	$7.56	4.93
Huntington Bancshares	$7.55 billion	3.13	$1.94 billion	$1.31	12.35

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

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats Shinhan Financial Group on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shinhan Financial Group

Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. provides financial products and services in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Insurance, Credit, and Others. It offers retail banking services, including demand, savings, and fixed deposit-taking; checking accounts; mortgage and home equity, and retail lending; electronic banking and automatic teller machines (ATM); and bill paying, payroll and check-cashing, currency exchange, and wire fund transfer services. The company also provides corporate banking services, such as investment banking, real estate financing, overseas real estate and development project financing, infrastructure and structured financing, equity/venture investments, mergers and acquisitions consulting; securitization and derivatives services comprising securities and derivative products, and foreign exchange trading; business expansion financing and consulting services; and working capital loans and facilities loans. In addition, it is involved in treasury and investment activities in international capital markets consisting of foreign currency-denominated securities trading, foreign exchange trading and services, trade-related financial services, international factoring services, and foreign banking operations. Further, the company offers real estate trust, investment advisory, venture business investment, life and non-life insurance, trust account management, securities brokerage, and asset management services, as well as leasing and equipment financing, savings banking, loan collection and credit reporting, collective investment administration, private equity investment, and financial system development services. Additionally, it provides transaction history inquiries and fund transfers, opening letters of credit, trade finance, payment and collection management, sales and acquisition settlement, business-to-business settlement, sweeping, pooling, ERP interface, host-to-host banking, SWIFT SCORE, and cash and liquidity management service. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services. It also provides 24-hour grace, asterisk-free checking, money scout, $50 safety zone, standby cash, early pay, instant access, savings goal getter, and Huntington heads up; digitally powered consumer and business financial solutions to consumer lending, regional banking, branch banking, and wealth management customers; direct and indirect consumer loans, as well as dealer finance loans and deposits; and private banking, wealth management and legacy planning through investment and portfolio management, fiduciary administration and trust, institutional custody, and full-service retail brokerage investment services. The company offers equipment financing, asset-based lending, distribution finance, structured lending, and municipal financing solutions, as well as Huntington ChoicePay. In addition, it offers lending, liquidity, treasury management and other payment services, and capital markets; government and non-profits, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, franchises, financial sponsors, and global services; and corporate risk management, institutional sales and trading, debt and equity issuance, and additional advisory services. The company offers its products through a network of channels, including branches and ATMs, online and mobile banking, and through customer call centers to customers in middle market banking, corporate, specialty, and government banking, asset finance, commercial real estate banking, and capital markets. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.