Societe Generale Group (OTCMKTS:SCGLY) & Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) Head-To-Head Contrast

Western New England Bancorp (NASDAQ:WNEB) and Societe Generale Group (OTCMKTS:SCGLY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

68.0% of Western New England Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.0% of Societe Generale Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.1% of Western New England Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Western New England Bancorp and Societe Generale Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western New England Bancorp	0	1	1	1	3.00
Societe Generale Group	1	2	6	1	2.70

Western New England Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential downside of 13.73%. Given Western New England Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Western New England Bancorp is more favorable than Societe Generale Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Western New England Bancorp and Societe Generale Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western New England Bancorp	$131.13 million	1.97	$15.27 million	$0.76	16.78
Societe Generale Group	$30.83 billion	1.78	$6.79 billion	$1.70	8.56

Societe Generale Group has higher revenue and earnings than Western New England Bancorp. Societe Generale Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western New England Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Western New England Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Societe Generale Group pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Western New England Bancorp pays out 36.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Societe Generale Group pays out 15.3% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Western New England Bancorp and Societe Generale Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western New England Bancorp	11.64%	6.31%	0.56%
Societe Generale Group	22.01%	6.71%	0.34%

Volatility and Risk

Western New England Bancorp has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Societe Generale Group has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Western New England Bancorp beats Societe Generale Group on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western New England Bancorp

Western New England Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Westfield Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals and businesses. The company accepts various deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, commercial checking, business, nonprofit and municipal checking, savings, money market and sweep, individual retirement, and other savings accounts; time deposits; certificates of deposit; and interest on lawyer's trust accounts. It also offers residential real estate loans, including first mortgages, home equity loans, and home equity lines, and secured by one-to-four family residential properties; commercial and industrial loans, such as letters of credit, revolving lines of credit, working capital, equipment financing, and term loans; commercial mortgage loans; construction and land development loans; home equity loans comprising home equity revolving loans and lines of credit; and consumer loans, including automobile, spa and pool, collateral, and personal lines of credit. In addition, the company provides automated teller machine (ATM), telephone and online banking, remote deposit capture, cash management, overdraft and safe deposit facility, and night deposit services. The company was formerly known as Westfield Financial, Inc. and changed its name to Western New England Bancorp, Inc. in October 2016. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts.

About Societe Generale Group

Société Générale Société anonyme provides banking and financial services to individuals, corporates, and institutional clients in Europe and internationally. It operates through French Retail Banking, International Retail Banking & Financial Services, and Global Banking and Investor Solutions. It offers retail banking services, such as consumer credit, vehicle leasing and fleet management, online banking, wealth management, and equipment and vendor finance services; and insurance products, including home, vehicle, family, health, and mortgage insurance. The company also provides corporate and investment banking, securities, business consulting, consumer finance, advisory and financing, and asset management and private banking services. In addition, it offers brokerage, cash management, payment, factoring/reverse factoring, export financing, trade finance, cash clearing and correspondent banking, and receivables and supply chain financing services. Société Générale Société anonyme was incorporated in 1864 and is headquartered in Paris, France.