AJ Bell (AJB) Competitors

St. James's Place (LON:STJ) and AJ Bell (LON:AJB) are both mid-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment and valuation.

Is STJ or AJB a better dividend stock?

St. James's Place pays an annual dividend of GBX 14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. AJ Bell pays an annual dividend of GBX 12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. St. James's Place pays out -1,173.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AJ Bell pays out 61.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Which has more volatility and risk, STJ or AJB?

St. James's Place has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AJ Bell has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to STJ or AJB?

In the previous week, AJ Bell had 8 more articles in the media than St. James's Place. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for AJ Bell and 1 mentions for St. James's Place. AJ Bell's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat St. James' Place's score of 0.67 indicating that AJ Bell is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
St. James's Place	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AJ Bell	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in STJ or AJB?

79.6% of St. James's Place shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.9% of AJ Bell shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of St. James's Place shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 29.6% of AJ Bell shares are held 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.

Is STJ or AJB more profitable?

AJ Bell has a net margin of 33.14% compared to St. James' Place's net margin of -0.02%. AJ Bell's return on equity of 42.30% beat St. James' Place's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
St. James's Place	-0.02%	-0.63%	0.22%
AJ Bell	33.14%	42.30%	36.07%

Do analysts recommend STJ or AJB?

St. James's Place presently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,485, suggesting a potential upside of 13.49%. AJ Bell has a consensus price target of GBX 501, suggesting a potential downside of 3.65%. Given St. James' Place's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe St. James's Place is more favorable than AJ Bell.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
St. James's Place	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
AJ Bell	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, STJ or AJB?

AJ Bell has lower revenue, but higher earnings than St. James's Place. St. James's Place is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AJ Bell, 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
St. James's Place	£26.27B	0.27	-£6.46M	-£1.19	-1,096.71
AJ Bell	£244.77M	8.76	£81.11M	£19.55	26.60

Summary

AJ Bell beats St. James's Place on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.