Comparing NU (NYSE:NU) and Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

3.4% of Barclays shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of NU shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations 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 plainly 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%

Summary

NU beats Barclays on 10 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.