Head to Head Review: Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) versus Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) and Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Equitable Financial and Huntington Bancshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equitable Financial	$31.33 million	1.18	$2.71 million	N/A	N/A
Huntington Bancshares	$11.96 billion	2.13	$1.94 billion	$1.35	12.91

Huntington Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Equitable Financial.

Volatility and Risk

Equitable Financial has a beta of 0.1, indicating that its stock price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Equitable Financial and Huntington Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equitable Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00
Huntington Bancshares	1	3	15	2	2.86

Huntington Bancshares has a consensus price target of $18.79, indicating a potential upside of 7.80%. Given Huntington Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Huntington Bancshares is more favorable than Equitable Financial.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.2% of Equitable Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 11.3% of Equitable Financial 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equitable Financial	9.82%	10.12%	0.97%
Huntington Bancshares	17.36%	11.81%	1.06%

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats Equitable Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equitable Financial

Equitable Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Equitable Bank that provides various banking products and services in Nebraska, the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts; recorder checks; online and mobile banking; remote deposit capture; voice banking; credit card processing; debit and gift cards; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides home, home equity, auto, personal, real estate and construction, operating lines of credit, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as equipment financing. In addition, the company offers foreign currency and exchanges; financial planning; wealth management; investment advisory; and retirement services. It operates through branches located in Grand Island, North Platte, and Omaha. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska.

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.