Contrasting Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) and Lion Finance Group (OTCMKTS:BDGSF)

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (NYSE:BBVA) and Lion Finance Group (OTCMKTS:BDGSF) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria and Lion Finance Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria	$41.77 billion	3.24	$11.89 billion	$1.97	11.93
Lion Finance Group	$1.97 billion	2.36	$911.27 million	$17.40	6.00

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has higher revenue and earnings than Lion Finance Group. Lion Finance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria and Lion Finance Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria	0	3	2	1	2.67
Lion Finance Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.0% of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria and Lion Finance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria	28.43%	17.29%	1.31%
Lion Finance Group	32.42%	27.61%	3.77%

Risk and Volatility

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lion Finance Group has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria beats Lion Finance Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. provides retail banking, wholesale banking, and asset management services in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and internationally. The company offers savings account, demand deposits, and time deposits; and loan products, such as residential mortgages, other households, credit card loans, loans to enterprises and public sector, as well as consumer finance. It provides insurance and asset management business, including corporate, commercial, SME, payment systems, retail, private and investment banking, pension and life insurance, leasing, factoring, and brokerage. The company provides its products through online and mobile channels. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Bilbao, Spain.

About Lion Finance Group

Bank of Georgia Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial services with focus on the Georgian and Armenian markets. It operates through Retail Banking, SME Banking, Corporate Investment Banking, and BNB segments. The Retail Banking segment offers consumer loans, mortgage loans, overdrafts, credit cards, and other credit facilities; funds transfer and settlement services; and handles customers' deposits for individuals and legal entities. This segment primarily serves mass retail and affluent, and high-net-worth client segments. The SME Banking segment provides SME loans, micro loans, and consumer and mortgage loans; funds transfers and settlement services; and handles customers' deposits for legal entities. This segment serves small and medium-sized enterprises; and micro businesses. The Corporate Investment Banking segment provides loans and other credit facilities, funds transfers and settlement services, trade finance services, and documentary operations support services; handles saving and term deposits for corporate and institutional customers; and offers brokerage services. The BNB segment provides retail and corporate banking services to clients in Belarus. Bank of Georgia Group PLC was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.