4imprint Group (FOUR) Competitors

4imprint Group (LON:FOUR) and Ascential (LON:ASCL) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and community ranking.

Is FOUR or ASCL more profitable?

4imprint Group has a net margin of 8.01% compared to Ascential's net margin of -92.68%. 4imprint Group's return on equity of 77.32% beat Ascential's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
4imprint Group	8.01%	77.32%	35.68%
Ascential	-92.68%	0.89%	1.36%

Which has better earnings & valuation, FOUR or ASCL?

4imprint Group has higher revenue and earnings than Ascential. 4imprint Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ascential, 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
4imprint Group	£1.33B	1.29	£106.20M	£2.28	2,666.67
Ascential	£206.40M	6.72	£4.20M	£0.01	31,400.00

Which has more volatility and risk, FOUR or ASCL?

4imprint Group has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ascential has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FOUR or ASCL?

4imprint Group presently has a consensus target price of GBX 7,365, suggesting a potential upside of 21.13%. Ascential has a consensus target price of GBX 285, suggesting a potential downside of 9.24%. Given 4imprint Group's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe 4imprint Group is more favorable than Ascential.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
4imprint Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Ascential	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FOUR or ASCL?

83.1% of 4imprint Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.9% of Ascential shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of 4imprint Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Ascential shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is FOUR or ASCL a better dividend stock?

4imprint Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 168 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ascential pays an annual dividend of GBX 6 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. 4imprint Group pays out 7,368.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ascential pays out 60,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 4imprint Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to FOUR or ASCL?

In the previous week, 4imprint Group had 1 more articles in the media than Ascential. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for 4imprint Group and 1 mentions for Ascential. 4imprint Group's average media sentiment score of 0.21 beat Ascential's score of 0.00 indicating that 4imprint Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
4imprint Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ascential	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FOUR or ASCL?

Ascential received 180 more outperform votes than 4imprint Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 79.71% of users gave Ascential an outperform vote while only 72.75% of users gave 4imprint Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
4imprint Group	Outperform Votes 315 72.75%	Underperform Votes 118 27.25%
Ascential	Outperform Votes 495 79.71%	Underperform Votes 126 20.29%

Summary

4imprint Group beats Ascential on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.