BlackRock Smaller Companies (BRSC) Competitors

BlackRock Smaller Companies (LON:BRSC) and AJ Bell (LON:AJB) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, BRSC or AJB?

BlackRock Smaller Companies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AJ Bell. BlackRock Smaller Companies 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
BlackRock Smaller Companies	-£3.23M	-166.33	£120.17M	-£0.09	-14,160.26
AJ Bell	£291.42M	7.01	£81.11M	£0.22	2,334.41

Is BRSC or AJB more profitable?

BlackRock Smaller Companies has a net margin of 94.11% compared to AJ Bell's net margin of 33.14%. AJ Bell's return on equity of 42.30% beat BlackRock Smaller Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BlackRock Smaller Companies	94.11%	17.28%	-2.39%
AJ Bell	33.14%	42.30%	36.07%

Is BRSC or AJB a better dividend stock?

BlackRock Smaller Companies pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.43 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%. BlackRock Smaller Companies pays out -466.5% 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. BlackRock Smaller Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to BRSC or AJB?

In the previous week, BlackRock Smaller Companies and BlackRock Smaller Companies both had 1 articles in the media. AJ Bell's average media sentiment score of 0.20 beat BlackRock Smaller Companies' score of 0.00 indicating that AJ Bell is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
BlackRock Smaller Companies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
AJ Bell	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate BRSC or AJB?

AJ Bell has a consensus price target of GBX 501, suggesting a potential downside of 0.60%. Given AJ Bell's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AJ Bell is more favorable than BlackRock Smaller Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BlackRock Smaller Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
AJ Bell	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Which has more risk and volatility, BRSC or AJB?

BlackRock Smaller Companies has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AJ Bell has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in BRSC or AJB?

11.6% of BlackRock Smaller Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.4% of AJ Bell shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of BlackRock Smaller Companies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.7% of AJ Bell shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

AJ Bell beats BlackRock Smaller Companies on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.