Citigroup (NYSE:C) vs. Agricultural Bank of China (OTCMKTS:ACGBF) Critical Survey

Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Agricultural Bank of China (OTCMKTS:ACGBF) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Citigroup and Agricultural Bank of China’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citigroup	8.44%	7.29%	0.57%
Agricultural Bank of China	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Citigroup and Agricultural Bank of China, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citigroup	0	5	10	0	2.67
Agricultural Bank of China	0	0	0	0	0.00

Citigroup presently has a consensus target price of $96.54, suggesting a potential upside of 0.67%. Given Citigroup’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Citigroup is more favorable than Agricultural Bank of China.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.7% of Citigroup shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Agricultural Bank of China shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Citigroup shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Citigroup pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Agricultural Bank of China pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 25.5%. Citigroup pays out 33.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Agricultural Bank of China pays out 32.0% 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. Citigroup has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Agricultural Bank of China is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Citigroup and Agricultural Bank of China”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citigroup	$170.76 billion	1.05	$12.68 billion	$6.77	14.16
Agricultural Bank of China	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.56	1.25

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

Summary

Citigroup beats Agricultural Bank of China on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc., a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions. The Markets segment offers sales and trading services for equities, foreign exchange, rates, spread products, and commodities to corporate, institutional, and public sector clients; and market-making services, including asset classes, risk management solutions, financing, prime brokerage, research, securities clearing, and settlement. The banking segment includes investment banking; advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, and corporate defense activities; and corporate lending, which includes corporate and commercial banking. The U.S. Personal Banking segment provides co-branded cards and retail banking services. The Wealth segment provides financial services to high-net-worth clients through banking, lending, mortgages, investment, custody, and trust product offerings; and to professional industries, including law firms, consulting groups, accounting, and asset management. The company was founded in 1812 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Agricultural Bank of China

Agricultural Bank of China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. It offers demand, personal call, foreign currency call, time or demand optional, foreign exchange call, foreign exchange time, savings, agreed term, and negotiated deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and loans, including housing, consumer, business, fixed asset, working capital, real estate, and entrusted syndicated loans, as well as trade finances, guarantees and commitments, and loans with custody of export rebates accounts. The company provides credit card, debit card, payment and settlement, private banking, cash management, investment banking, custody, financial market, and financial institution services, as well as trading and wealth management services; and personal fund collection and automatic transfer services. In addition, it offers agro-related personal and corporate banking products and services; telephone, mobile, self-service, television, and SMS banking services; financial leasing services; fund management services; asset custodian services; and insurance and reinsurance related products and services. The company operates domestic branches, including specialized institutions, training institutes, tier-1 branches, tier-2 branches, tier-1 sub-branches, foundation-level branch outlets and other establishments; overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, New York, Dubai International Financial Centre, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, Luxemburg, Dubai, London, Macao, and Hanoi; and overseas representative offices in Vancouver, Taipei, Sao Paulo, and Dushanbe. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.