Head to Head Analysis: Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) vs. UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY)

Financial Institutions (NASDAQ:FISI) and UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Financial Institutions pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. UniCredit pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Financial Institutions pays out 47.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Financial Institutions has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Financial Institutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Financial Institutions and UniCredit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Financial Institutions	11.53%	9.66%	0.65%
UniCredit	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Financial Institutions and UniCredit, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Financial Institutions	0	3	0	0	2.00
UniCredit	0	0	0	0	N/A

Financial Institutions presently has a consensus target price of $20.67, suggesting a potential upside of 11.05%. Given Financial Institutions’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Financial Institutions is more favorable than UniCredit.

Volatility & Risk

Financial Institutions has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UniCredit has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.5% of Financial Institutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of UniCredit shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Financial Institutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Financial Institutions and UniCredit’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Financial Institutions	$334.38 million	0.86	$50.26 million	$2.51	7.41
UniCredit	$26.50 billion	2.55	$9.32 billion	N/A	N/A

UniCredit has higher revenue and earnings than Financial Institutions.

Summary

Financial Institutions beats UniCredit on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Financial Institutions

Financial Institutions, Inc. operates as a holding company for the Five Star Bank, a chartered bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals, municipalities, and businesses in New York. The company provides checking and savings account programs, including money market accounts, certificates of deposit, sweep investments, and individual retirement and other qualified plan accounts, as well as NOW accounts. Its loan products include term loans and lines of credit; short and medium-term commercial loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment; commercial business loans to the agricultural industry; commercial mortgage loans; one-to-four family residential mortgage loans, home improvement loans, closed-end home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit; and consumer loans, such as automobile, secured installment, and personal loans. The company offers personal insurance products, including automobile, homeowners, boat, recreational vehicle, landlord, and umbrella coverage; commercial insurance comprising property, liability, automobile, inland marine, workers compensation, bonds, crop, and umbrella insurance products; and financial services, such as life and disability insurance, medicare supplements, long-term care, annuities, mutual funds, and retirement programs. In addition, it offers customized investment advisory, wealth management, investment consulting, and retirement plan services, as well as operates a real estate investment trust that holds residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans. Financial Institutions, Inc. was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Warsaw, New York.

About UniCredit

UniCredit S.p.A. provides commercial banking services in Italy, Germany, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. It offers retail, private, and wealth management solutions; and institutional investor solutions. The company also provides corporate finance advisory, rating advisory, financial sponsor, patient capital, capital structure advisory, and finance solutions, as well as securities services. In addition, it offers transactional and risk management, and strategic advisory and funding services; group trade and correspondent banking services; and payments and cash management solutions. The company serves SME, corporate, multinational corporate, financial institution, and public sector clients, as well as retail, private banking, wealth management, and family office clients. The company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.