Contrasting Pacific Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:PVBK) & Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:SVNLY)

Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:SVNLY) and Pacific Valley Bancorp (OTCMKTS:PVBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Pacific Valley Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ)	0	0	0	0	N/A
Pacific Valley Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Pacific Valley Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ)	14.98%	13.76%	0.75%
Pacific Valley Bancorp	15.89%	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.8% of Pacific Valley Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Pacific Valley Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ)	$16.45 billion	1.20	$2.74 billion	$0.69	7.25
Pacific Valley Bancorp	$27.51 million	1.69	$4.85 million	$0.97	9.73

Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) has higher revenue and earnings than Pacific Valley Bancorp. Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pacific Valley Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ)

Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) provides various banking products and services for private and corporate customers primarily in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, the United States, Luxembourg, Finland, and Poland. The company offers savings, transactions, business, currency, and investment accounts, as well as accounts for cash pool, and forestry and agriculture; mortgage and committed loans, and private loans; mutual funds; pension products; credit and debit cards; and payment and reconciliation services, as well as foreign exchange rate services. It also provides financing for investments, such as equipment, cars, computers, and other inventories, as well as vehicle and real estate financing services; green loans and advisor services; investment and other financing services; medical care, and group and health insurance products; forestry and farming banking products; and online and mobile banking services, as well as various banking services for children and young people. In addition, the company offers financial services, that includes asset management, transactional banking, corporate finance, financing, markets, trade finance, market information and research services to large corporations; cash management solutions; and various corporate banking services to small and medium-sized companies and large corporates, as well as private banking services. Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) was incorporated in 1871 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

About Pacific Valley Bancorp

Pacific Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Valley Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company offers personal and business banking, including checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and online solutions, such as online and mobile banking, bill pay, remote deposit capture, positive pay, e-statements, and order checks. It also provides commercial or agriculture lines of credit, commercial or agriculture terms loans, commercial constructions loans, agriculture production lending, and government guaranteed loan programs; and debit card, incoming wire instructions, ATM locator, fraud prevention, identity theft, and FDIC insurance estimator services. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Salinas, California.