Clarkson (CKN) Competitors

Clarkson (LON:CKN) and Irish Continental Group (LON:ICGC) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Is CKN or ICGC a better dividend stock?

Clarkson pays an annual dividend of GBX 104 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Irish Continental Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 13 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Clarkson pays out 38.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Irish Continental Group pays out 41.9% 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. Clarkson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate CKN or ICGC?

Clarkson presently has a consensus target price of GBX 4,250, suggesting a potential upside of 30.17%. Given Clarkson's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Clarkson is more favorable than Irish Continental Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clarkson	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Irish Continental Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has more volatility & risk, CKN or ICGC?

Clarkson has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Irish Continental Group has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CKN or ICGC more profitable?

Clarkson has a net margin of 13.10% compared to Irish Continental Group's net margin of 10.51%. Irish Continental Group's return on equity of 22.21% beat Clarkson's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clarkson	13.10%	17.96%	7.79%
Irish Continental Group	10.51%	22.21%	6.96%

Does the media prefer CKN or ICGC?

In the previous week, Clarkson had 2 more articles in the media than Irish Continental Group. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Clarkson and 1 mentions for Irish Continental Group. Clarkson's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Irish Continental Group's score of 0.75 indicating that Clarkson is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Clarkson	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Irish Continental Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CKN or ICGC?

Clarkson has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Irish Continental Group. Clarkson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Irish Continental Group, 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
Clarkson	£632.60M	1.59	£82.85M	£268.73	12.15
Irish Continental Group	£703.84M	1.19	£74.00M	£31.01	13.61

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of CKN or ICGC?

53.9% of Clarkson shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.7% of Irish Continental Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of Clarkson shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.0% of Irish Continental Group 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 MarketBeat Community prefer CKN or ICGC?

Clarkson received 158 more outperform votes than Irish Continental Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 79.58% of users gave Clarkson an outperform vote while only 70.59% of users gave Irish Continental Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Clarkson	Outperform Votes 230 79.58%	Underperform Votes 59 20.42%
Irish Continental Group	Outperform Votes 72 70.59%	Underperform Votes 30 29.41%

Summary

Clarkson beats Irish Continental Group on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.