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 superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Which has more risk and volatility, STJ or AJB?

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

Is STJ or AJB a better dividend stock?

St. James's Place pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. AJ Bell pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. St. James's Place pays out 19.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AJ Bell pays out 57.9% 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.

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 insiders and institutionals hold more shares of STJ or AJB?

77.8% of St. James's Place shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of AJ Bell shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of St. James's Place shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.8% of AJ Bell shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to STJ or AJB?

In the previous week, St. James's Place had 4 more articles in the media than AJ Bell. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for St. James's Place and 6 mentions for AJ Bell. AJ Bell's average media sentiment score of 0.51 beat St. James' Place's score of 0.42 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
AJ Bell	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & 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	£16.94B	0.40	-£6.46M	£0.94	1,369.57
AJ Bell	£291.42M	7.47	£81.11M	£0.22	2,501.16

Do analysts recommend STJ or AJB?

St. James's Place presently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,515, suggesting a potential upside of 17.31%. AJ Bell has a consensus price target of GBX 521.67, suggesting a potential downside of 3.40%. Given St. James' Place's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly 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)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Summary

St. James's Place and AJ Bell tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.