Reviewing JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Nomura (NYSE:NMR)

Nomura (NYSE:NMR) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Nomura has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.1% of Nomura shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.6% of JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Nomura shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Nomura and JPMorgan Chase & Co., as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nomura	0	1	0	1	3.00
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	3	9	15	0	2.44

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a consensus target price of $326.38, indicating a potential upside of 6.02%. Given JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe JPMorgan Chase & Co. is more favorable than Nomura.

Profitability

This table compares Nomura and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nomura	8.07%	10.23%	0.63%
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	20.90%	17.18%	1.31%

Dividends

Nomura pays an annual dividend of $0.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. JPMorgan Chase & Co. pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Nomura pays out 44.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JPMorgan Chase & Co. pays out 29.7% 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nomura and JPMorgan Chase & Co.”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nomura	$1,762.66 billion	0.01	$2.25 billion	$0.83	9.26
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$178.84 billion	4.69	$58.47 billion	$20.19	15.25

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nomura. Nomura is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than JPMorgan Chase & Co., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

JPMorgan Chase & Co. beats Nomura on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nomura

Nomura Holdings, Inc. provides various financial services to individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and governmental agencies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Retail, Investment Management, and Wholesale. The Retail segment offers various financial products and investment consultation services. The Investment Management segment engages in the management of funds, investment trusts, and other investment solutions; and provision of investment advisory, custodial, and administrative services. The Wholesale segment is involved in the research, sale, trading, agency execution, and market-making of fixed income and equity-related products. This segment also engages in underwriting various securities and other financial instruments, such as various classes of shares, convertible and exchangeable securities, investment grade and high yield debts, sovereign and emerging market debts, structured securities, and other securities; arranging private placements, as well as other capital raising activities; and the provision of financial advisory services on business transactions comprising mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, capital structuring, corporate defense activities, leveraged buyouts, and risk solutions. The company was formerly known as The Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Nomura Holdings, Inc. in October 2001. Nomura Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1925 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. It focuses on investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), Asset and Wealth Management (AWM), and Corporate. The CCB segment originates and services mortgage loans. The CIB segment makes markets and services clients across fixed income, foreign exchange, equities, and commodities. The AWM segment provides initial capital investments in products such as mutual funds and capital invested alongside third-party investors. The Corporate segment manages its liquidity, funding, capital, structural interest rate, and foreign exchange risks. The company was founded in 1799 and is headquartered in New York, NY.