ESCT vs. BUR, RAT, JAM, ATT, TRIG, MRC, MYI, N91, SSON, and FEV
Should you be buying The European Smaller Companies Trust stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of The European Smaller Companies Trust include Burford Capital (BUR), Rathbones Group (RAT), JPMorgan American (JAM), Allianz Technology Trust (ATT), The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), The Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC), Murray International (MYI), Ninety One Group (N91), Smithson Investment Trust (SSON), and Fidelity European Trust (FEV). These companies are all part of the "asset management" industry.
The European Smaller Companies Trust vs. Its Competitors
The European Smaller Companies Trust (LON:ESCT) and Burford Capital (LON:BUR) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.
1.3% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.3% of Burford Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of The European Smaller Companies Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Burford Capital shares are owned by 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.
Burford Capital 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 Burford Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, Burford Capital had 1 more articles in the media than The European Smaller Companies Trust. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for Burford Capital and 0 mentions for The European Smaller Companies Trust. Burford Capital's average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat The European Smaller Companies Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that Burford Capital is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
The European Smaller Companies Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Burford Capital pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.13 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. Burford Capital pays out 0.2% 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.
The European Smaller Companies Trust has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Burford Capital has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Burford Capital has a consensus price target of GBX 1,600, suggesting a potential upside of 84.76%. Given Burford Capital's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Burford Capital is more favorable than The European Smaller Companies Trust.
The European Smaller Companies Trust has a net margin of 87.06% compared to Burford Capital's net margin of 64.53%. The European Smaller Companies Trust's return on equity of 10.91% beat Burford Capital's return on equity.
Summary
Burford Capital beats The European Smaller Companies Trust on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ESCT and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of LON and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
The European Smaller Companies Trust Competitors List
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This page (LON:ESCT) was last updated on 10/8/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
