Critical Survey: ING Group (NYSE:ING) and Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi (OTCMKTS:AKBTY)

Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi (OTCMKTS:AKBTY) and ING Group (NYSE:ING) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ING Group has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi and ING Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi	6.62%	18.52%	1.61%
ING Group	26.94%	11.57%	0.57%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi and ING Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi	0	0	0	0	0.00
ING Group	0	0	5	1	3.17

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi and ING Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi	$17.96 billion	N/A	$1.29 billion	$0.49	6.88
ING Group	$24.47 billion	3.36	$5.77 billion	$2.22	12.75

ING Group has higher revenue and earnings than Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi. Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ING Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

4.5% of ING Group shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. ING Group pays an annual dividend of $0.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi pays out 10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ING Group pays out 31.1% 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.

Summary

ING Group beats Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi

Akbank T.A.S., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services in Turkey and internationally. It operates through Consumer Banking and Private Banking; Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking, and SME Banking; and Treasury, Other, and Unallovated segments. The company’s consumer banking services comprise deposit accounts, retail loans, commercial installment loans, credit cards, insurance products, and asset management services, as well as bank cards, investment funds trading, automatic payment, foreign currency trading, safe deposit box rental, cheques, money transfer, investment banking, and telephone and internet banking. It also offers services to large, medium, and small size corporate and commercial customers that include Turkish Lira (TL) and foreign currency denominated working capital loans financing for investments, foreign trade financing, derivative instruments for hedging purposes of foreign currency and interest risk, letters of credit, foreign currency trading, corporate finance, and deposit and cash management services, as well as project finance loans; and working capital management, delivering cash management services based on customers’ requests, such as collection and payment services, and liquidity and information management. In addition, the company engages in treasury activities consisting of TL and foreign currency spot and forward transactions, treasury and government bonds, Eurobonds, and private sector bond transactions, as well as derivative trading activities; and marketing and pricing activities related to treasury products. Further, it provides financial leasing services, investment and pension funds management, and portfolio management, as well as offers payment services and issues electronic money. Akbank T.A.S. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.

About ING Group

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts. It also offers business lending products; SME loans; consumer lending products, such as residential mortgage loans and other consumer lending loans; and mortgages. In addition, the company provides working capital solutions; debt and equity market solutions; various loans; payments; and cash management, trade and corporate finance, and treasury services, as well as savings, investment, insurance, and digital banking services. It serves individual customers, corporate clients, and financial institutions. ING Groep N.V. was founded in 1762 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.