Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) Competitors

F&C Investment Trust (LON:FCIT) and Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ASL) are both financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, community ranking, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FCIT or ASL?

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust received 70 more outperform votes than F&C Investment Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.81% of users gave Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust an outperform vote while only 61.90% of users gave F&C Investment Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
F&C Investment Trust	Outperform Votes 13 61.90%	Underperform Votes 8 38.10%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	Outperform Votes 83 72.81%	Underperform Votes 31 27.19%

Does the media prefer FCIT or ASL?

In the previous week, F&C Investment Trust and F&C Investment Trust both had 1 articles in the media. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.66 beat F&C Investment Trust's score of 1.53 indicating that Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
F&C Investment Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts prefer FCIT or ASL?

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
F&C Investment Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Do institutionals and insiders believe in FCIT or ASL?

50.8% of F&C Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of F&C Investment Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, FCIT or ASL?

F&C Investment Trust has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FCIT or ASL a better dividend stock?

F&C Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 15 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. F&C Investment Trust pays out 781.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust pays out 1,377.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Is FCIT or ASL more profitable?

F&C Investment Trust has a net margin of 95.32% compared to Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's net margin of 93.74%. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity of 19.45% beat F&C Investment Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
F&C Investment Trust	95.32%	18.95%	10.80%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	93.74%	19.45%	11.67%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, FCIT or ASL?

F&C Investment Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust. Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than F&C Investment 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
F&C Investment Trust	£1.02B	4.92	£976.90M	£1.92	530.69
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust	£274.39M	4.82	£257.22M	£3.05	515.41

Summary

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust beats F&C Investment Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.