Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) & Virginia National Bankshares (NASDAQ:VABK) Critical Review

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) and Virginia National Bankshares (NASDAQ:VABK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Huntington Bancshares and Virginia National Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Huntington Bancshares	14.19%	10.72%	0.95%
Virginia National Bankshares	18.95%	9.96%	0.97%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Huntington Bancshares and Virginia National Bankshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Huntington Bancshares	$7.21 billion	3.31	$1.95 billion	$1.04	15.80
Virginia National Bankshares	$51.97 million	3.59	$19.26 million	$2.89	12.03

Huntington Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Virginia National Bankshares. Virginia National Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Huntington Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Huntington Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Virginia National Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Huntington Bancshares pays out 59.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Virginia National Bankshares pays out 45.7% 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. Virginia National Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Huntington Bancshares and Virginia National Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Huntington Bancshares	1	5	13	0	2.63
Virginia National Bankshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus price target of $17.76, indicating a potential upside of 8.12%. Given Huntington Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Huntington Bancshares is more favorable than Virginia National Bankshares.

Volatility and Risk

Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Virginia National Bankshares has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.4% of Virginia National Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Huntington Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of Virginia National Bankshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats Virginia National Bankshares on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services. It also provides 24-hour grace, asterisk-free checking, money scout, $50 safety zone, standby cash, early pay, instant access, savings goal getter, and Huntington heads up; digitally powered consumer and business financial solutions to consumer lending, regional banking, branch banking, and wealth management customers; direct and indirect consumer loans, as well as dealer finance loans and deposits; and private banking, wealth management and legacy planning through investment and portfolio management, fiduciary administration and trust, institutional custody, and full-service retail brokerage investment services. The company offers equipment financing, asset-based lending, distribution finance, structured lending, and municipal financing solutions, as well as Huntington ChoicePay. In addition, it offers lending, liquidity, treasury management and other payment services, and capital markets; government and non-profits, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, franchises, financial sponsors, and global services; and corporate risk management, institutional sales and trading, debt and equity issuance, and additional advisory services. The company offers its products through a network of channels, including branches and ATMs, online and mobile banking, and through customer call centers to customers in middle market banking, corporate, specialty, and government banking, asset finance, commercial real estate banking, and capital markets. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

About Virginia National Bankshares

Virginia National Bankshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Virginia National Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking services. The company operates through Bank, Sturman Wealth Advisors, VNB Trust and Estate Services, and Masonry Capital segments. It provides checking accounts, demand deposits, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, time deposits, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and other depository services. In addition, the company offers commercial and industrial loans, real estate construction and land loans, commercial real estate loans, and 1-4 family residential mortgages, as well as consumer loans comprising student loans, revolving credit, and other fixed payment loans. Further, it provides automated teller machines, internet banking, treasury, and cash management services; merchant and debit card services; and wealth and investment advisory, and brokerage services. Additionally, the company offers investment management, corporate trustee, trust and estate administration, IRA administration, house investment management, and custody services. It serves individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations in the Charlottesville/Albemarle County, Fauquier County, Manassas, Prince William County, Richmond, and Winchester market areas in Virginia. Virginia National Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia.