The European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) Competitors

The European Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ESCT) and JPMorgan American (LON:JAM) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Which has more volatility & risk, ESCT or JAM?

The European Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JPMorgan American has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ESCT or JAM?

1.3% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.6% of JPMorgan American shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of JPMorgan American shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ESCT or JAM?

JPMorgan American has higher revenue and earnings than The European Smaller Companies Trust. The European Smaller Companies Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than JPMorgan American, 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
The European Smaller Companies Trust	-£5.61M	-84.74	£83.79M	-£0.02	-9,720.93
JPMorgan American	£84.18M	22.48	£420.73M	£0.44	2,462.10

Does the media prefer ESCT or JAM?

In the previous week, JPMorgan American had 2 more articles in the media than The European Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for JPMorgan American and 1 mentions for The European Smaller Companies Trust. The European Smaller Companies Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.69 beat JPMorgan American's score of -0.21 indicating that The European Smaller Companies Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
The European 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
JPMorgan American	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is ESCT or JAM more profitable?

JPMorgan American has a net margin of 97.58% compared to The European Smaller Companies Trust's net margin of 87.06%. JPMorgan American's return on equity of 24.87% beat The European Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The European Smaller Companies Trust	87.06%	10.91%	6.62%
JPMorgan American	97.58%	24.87%	15.33%

Is ESCT or JAM a better dividend stock?

The European Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. JPMorgan American pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. The European Smaller Companies Trust pays out -223.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JPMorgan American pays out 24.9% 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. The European Smaller Companies Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

JPMorgan American beats The European Smaller Companies Trust on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.