AllianceBernstein (AB) Competitors

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) and Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Does the media favor AB or APAM?

In the previous week, Artisan Partners Asset Management had 2 more articles in the media than AllianceBernstein. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Artisan Partners Asset Management and 9 mentions for AllianceBernstein. Artisan Partners Asset Management's average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat AllianceBernstein's score of 0.92 indicating that Artisan Partners Asset Management is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AllianceBernstein	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Artisan Partners Asset Management	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AB or APAM more profitable?

Artisan Partners Asset Management has a net margin of 22.99% compared to AllianceBernstein's net margin of 6.47%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's return on equity of 72.77% beat AllianceBernstein's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AllianceBernstein	6.47%	15.27%	15.27%
Artisan Partners Asset Management	22.99%	72.77%	16.91%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AB or APAM?

19.3% of AllianceBernstein shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Artisan Partners Asset Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of AllianceBernstein shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.5% of Artisan Partners Asset Management shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate AB or APAM?

AllianceBernstein presently has a consensus price target of $41.19, suggesting a potential upside of 21.68%. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus price target of $43.00, suggesting a potential downside of 4.10%. Given AllianceBernstein's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe AllianceBernstein is more favorable than Artisan Partners Asset Management.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AllianceBernstein	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Artisan Partners Asset Management	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, AB or APAM?

AllianceBernstein has higher revenue and earnings than Artisan Partners Asset Management. Artisan Partners Asset Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AllianceBernstein, 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
AllianceBernstein	$4.16B	0.94	$264.18M	$2.41	14.05
Artisan Partners Asset Management	$975.10M	3.70	$222.29M	$3.28	13.67

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AB or APAM?

AllianceBernstein received 53 more outperform votes than Artisan Partners Asset Management when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 56.80% of users gave AllianceBernstein an outperform vote while only 52.88% of users gave Artisan Partners Asset Management an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AllianceBernstein	Outperform Votes 384 56.80%	Underperform Votes 292 43.20%
Artisan Partners Asset Management	Outperform Votes 331 52.88%	Underperform Votes 295 47.12%

Which has more risk and volatility, AB or APAM?

AllianceBernstein has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a beta of 1.85, indicating that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AB or APAM a better dividend stock?

AllianceBernstein pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. Artisan Partners Asset Management pays an annual dividend of $2.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. AllianceBernstein pays out 121.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Artisan Partners Asset Management pays out 82.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Artisan Partners Asset Management beats AllianceBernstein on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.