HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (HBC), Barclays PLC (ADR) (BCS), UBS AG (USA) (UBS): How to Play International Banking

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For the long term, UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) is targeting a return on equity of 15% by 2015. In the interim, the bank expects ROE to be in the mid-single digits.

Bottom line

Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) is the cheapest of the three on a price-to-book basis:

Part of Barclay’s sub-par P/E relates to the company’s presence in the U.K. But fellow UK bank HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HBC) is performing well and appears to be generating returns on equity that well out pace its major peers:

It appears the pullback could be a solid buying opportunity to jump into one of the world’s leading banks, HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HBC). Meanwhile, Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) still has overhang related to the Europe struggles, and UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) trades inline with HSBC but has the lowest ROE.

The article How to Play International Banking originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Marshall Hargrave.

Marshall Hargrave has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Marshall is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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