Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) Competitors

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) and Polar Capital Technology Trust (LON:PCT) are both financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, ASL or PCT?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Polar Capital Technology Trust has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of ASL or PCT?

52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.2% of Polar Capital Technology Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Polar Capital Technology Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better earnings & valuation, ASL or PCT?

Polar Capital Technology Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. Polar Capital Technology Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust, 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
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	£226.05M	5.71	£255.01M	£304.31	5.09
Polar Capital Technology Trust	£1.24B	3.61	£1.20B	£101.86	3.74

Does the media prefer ASL or PCT?

In the previous week, Polar Capital Technology Trust had 2 more articles in the media than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Polar Capital Technology Trust and 0 mentions for Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. Polar Capital Technology Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that Polar Capital Technology Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Neutral
Polar Capital Technology Trust	Very Positive

Is ASL or PCT more profitable?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 112.81% compared to Polar Capital Technology Trust's net margin of 96.56%. Polar Capital Technology Trust's return on equity of 30.54% beat Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	112.81%	18.22%	11.67%
Polar Capital Technology Trust	96.56%	30.54%	20.70%

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats Polar Capital Technology Trust on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.