Critical Analysis: The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and UP Fintech (NASDAQ:TIGR)

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and UP Fintech (NASDAQ:TIGR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for The PNC Financial Services Group and UP Fintech, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The PNC Financial Services Group	1	5	15	1	2.73
UP Fintech	1	1	5	0	2.57

The PNC Financial Services Group currently has a consensus price target of $219.11, suggesting a potential upside of 2.99%. UP Fintech has a consensus price target of $11.35, suggesting a potential upside of 25.54%. Given UP Fintech’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe UP Fintech is more favorable than The PNC Financial Services Group.

Profitability

This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and UP Fintech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The PNC Financial Services Group	19.30%	11.47%	1.16%
UP Fintech	27.42%	21.09%	1.95%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.5% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.0% of UP Fintech shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of The PNC Financial Services Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares The PNC Financial Services Group and UP Fintech”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The PNC Financial Services Group	$34.44 billion	2.42	$5.89 billion	$15.48	13.74
UP Fintech	$391.54 million	4.26	$60.73 million	$0.83	10.89

The PNC Financial Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than UP Fintech. UP Fintech is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The PNC Financial Services Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

The PNC Financial Services Group has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UP Fintech has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

The PNC Financial Services Group beats UP Fintech on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Asset Management Group segments. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services. This segment serves consumer and small business customers through a network of branches, digital channels, ATMs, and through phone-based customer contact centers. Its Corporate & Institutional Banking segment provides secured and unsecured loans, letters of credit, and equipment leases; cash and investment management services, receivables and disbursement management services, funds transfer services, international payment services, and access to online/mobile information management and reporting; securities underwriting, loan syndications, customer-related trading, and mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory related services; and commercial loan servicing and technology solutions. It serves mid-sized and large corporations, and government and not-for-profit entities. The company's Asset Management Group segment offers investment and retirement planning, customized investment management, credit and cash management solutions, and trust management and administration services for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, and their families; and multi-generational family planning services for ultra high net worth individuals and their families. It also provides outsourced chief investment officer, custody, private real estate, cash and fixed income client solutions, and retirement plan fiduciary investment services for institutional clients. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About UP Fintech

UP Fintech Holding Limited provides online brokerage services focusing on Chinese investors. The company has developed a brokerage platform, which allows investor to trade stocks, options, warrants, and other financial instruments that can be accessed through its APP and website. It offers brokerage and value-added services, including investor education, community engagement, and IR platform services. In addition, the company provides trade execution, margin financing, and securities lending services; asset management and wealth management; ESOP management; fund license application, product design, asset custody, transaction execution, and funding allocation; fund structuring and management; and IPO underwriting services. Further, it offers market information, community engagement, and simulated trading services. UP Fintech Holding Limited was founded in 2014 and is based in Beijing, China.