Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. SAN scored 72.0, NTB scored 80.0 — NTB leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. NTB's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but SAN's are as of December 2025 — a 6-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
SAN
Banco Santander, S.A.
Banks - Diversified · Financial strength
63Fin
$13.55 · $195.9B
fundamentals as of
Strength gap
11.1
NTB leads
NTB
The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited
Banks - Diversified · Financial strength
74.1Fin
$58.38 · $2.3B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestNTB10.3x
Fastest growthNTB+4.3%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
SAN
NTB
-0.5%D+
Rev
+4.3%C+
13.2xB
P/E
10.3xA-
13.1%B
ROE
21.1%A-
1.58B
P/B
2.00B
2.1%B
Yield
3.5%B
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
The companies
SANBanco Santander, S.A.
Banks - Diversified · $13.55 · beta 0.94
Why now
Banks - Diversified · market cap $195.9b. 10% off the 52-week high of $15.05. PEG 0.90 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 3 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $14.79 (implying +9% upside).
Moat
Net margin 33% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. $195.9b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Balance-sheet financial — book value, net interest margin, and credit loss provisions are the lever points; a rates regime change or a deterioration in the loan book moves the stock more than EPS does.
NTBThe Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited
Banks - Diversified · $58.38 · beta 0.54
Why now
Banks - Diversified · market cap $2.3b. 9% off the 52-week high of $64.17. PEG 0.57 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 3 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $66.00 (implying +13% upside).
Moat
Net margin 37% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 21% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. Financial moat — scale of deposit base / underwriting franchise plus regulatory capital advantages. The largest players compound book value through cycles that erase smaller competitors.
Risk
Regulatory capital risk — stricter capital requirements (CCAR, Basel) can force a dividend cut or a capital raise; the largest banks are most exposed because they're held to the tightest standards.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Common questions
Is NTB or SAN the better stock?
NTB scores higher: NTB 80.0, SAN 72.0 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
How are NTB and SAN scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.