Comparing Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) and Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF)

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) and Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Lloyds Banking Group has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Chartered has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

2.2% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Lloyds Banking Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lloyds Banking Group	17.51%	9.28%	0.48%
Standard Chartered	12.27%	10.73%	0.65%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lloyds Banking Group	$43.81 billion	1.53	$5.65 billion	$0.40	11.24
Standard Chartered	$41.04 billion	1.11	$4.05 billion	$1.81	10.75

Lloyds Banking Group has higher revenue and earnings than Standard Chartered. Standard Chartered 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.

Dividends

Lloyds Banking Group pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Standard Chartered pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lloyds Banking Group pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Standard Chartered pays out 13.8% 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 Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lloyds Banking Group	0	4	5	1	2.70
Standard Chartered	0	2	0	0	2.00

Summary

Lloyds Banking Group beats Standard Chartered on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. The company operates in three segments: Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking; Consumer, Private & Business Banking; and Ventures. It offers retail products, such as deposits, mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans; wealth management products and services that include investments, portfolio management, insurance, and wealth advice; and transaction banking services, such as cash management, working capital, and trade financing products. The company provides financial markets products and services that comprise project and export financing; debt capital markets and leveraged financing; financing and securities services; sales and structuring; macro, commodities, and credit trading; and market research services. In addition, it offers digital banking solutions. It serves financial institutions, governments, banks, investors, corporations, small to medium-sized businesses, and individuals. Standard Chartered PLC was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.