Financial Comparison: NU (NYSE:NU) vs. Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) and NU (NYSE:NU) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Barclays and NU”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barclays	$34.23 billion	2.65	$8.06 billion	$2.17	12.08
NU	$11.52 billion	7.54	$1.97 billion	$0.51	35.35

Barclays has higher revenue and earnings than NU. Barclays is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NU, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Barclays has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NU has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Barclays and NU, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barclays	0	2	4	0	2.67
NU	0	3	10	1	2.86

NU has a consensus price target of $18.04, suggesting a potential upside of 0.05%. Given NU’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NU is more favorable than Barclays.

Profitability

This table compares Barclays and NU’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barclays	21.26%	8.19%	0.39%
NU	17.97%	30.12%	4.66%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.4% of Barclays shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of NU shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of NU shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

NU beats Barclays on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About NU

Nu Holdings Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of digital banking services. The company was founded by David Vélez Osorno, Cristina Helena Zingaretti Junqueira, and Adam Edward Wible on February 26, 2016 and is headquartered in George Town, Cayman Islands.