Bank of Ireland Group (BIRG) Competitors

Close Brothers Group (LON:CBG) and Bank of Ireland Group (LON:BIRG) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, media sentiment, community ranking and earnings.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CBG or BIRG?

Close Brothers Group received 379 more outperform votes than Bank of Ireland Group when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 77.22% of users gave Bank of Ireland Group an outperform vote while only 59.86% of users gave Close Brothers Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Close Brothers Group	Outperform Votes 440 59.86%	Underperform Votes 295 40.14%
Bank of Ireland Group	Outperform Votes 61 77.22%	Underperform Votes 18 22.78%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in CBG or BIRG?

75.3% of Close Brothers Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.6% of Bank of Ireland Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Close Brothers Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Bank of Ireland Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, CBG or BIRG?

Close Brothers Group has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank of Ireland Group has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CBG or BIRG more profitable?

Bank of Ireland Group has a net margin of 38.50% compared to Close Brothers Group's net margin of 10.83%. Bank of Ireland Group's return on equity of 13.14% beat Close Brothers Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Close Brothers Group	10.83%	5.76%	0.73%
Bank of Ireland Group	38.50%	13.14%	1.03%

Does the media refer more to CBG or BIRG?

In the previous week, Close Brothers Group's average media sentiment score of 0.00 equaled Bank of Ireland Group'saverage media sentiment score.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Close Brothers Group	Neutral
Bank of Ireland Group	Neutral

Do analysts prefer CBG or BIRG?

Close Brothers Group presently has a consensus price target of GBX 556.60, suggesting a potential upside of 162.55%. Given Close Brothers Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Close Brothers Group is more favorable than Bank of Ireland Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Close Brothers Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Bank of Ireland Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Is CBG or BIRG a better dividend stock?

Close Brothers Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 68 per share and has a dividend yield of 32.1%. Bank of Ireland Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 70 per share and has a dividend yield of 805.1%. Close Brothers Group pays out 11,333.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bank of Ireland Group pays out 4,761.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bank of Ireland Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, CBG or BIRG?

Bank of Ireland Group has higher revenue and earnings than Close Brothers Group. Bank of Ireland Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Close Brothers Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Close Brothers Group	£926.80M	0.34	£89.30M	£0.60	353.33
Bank of Ireland Group	£4.22B	0.02	£1.54B	£1.47	5.91

Summary

Bank of Ireland Group beats Close Brothers Group on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.